Every Step of the Way
by Monica McWintorg
Summary: Amy finds Ty closer than ever - geographically, physically and emotionally - after an accident on the trails. When his parents practically disappeared, Ty has to travel across the country to confront them. Will things ever be the same when he returns?
1. Chapter 1

Heartland

Every Step of the Way

* * *

"Here you go girl," Amy Fleming said to Hero the chestnut mare. "Go, have fun." the horse's ears perked up at the sound of Amy's voice, and she walked away from the girl as Amy unclipped the lead rope from the halter. 

Amy leaned against the gate, watching Hero join the other horses that were already grazing, as the sun rose over one of the Heartland fields.

Heartland was a horse sanctuary created by Amy's mother Marion Fleming. Marion and her husband Tim were Olympic show jumpers, but one fateful day, Tim and his horse Pegasus hit a jump wrong, and both horse and rider were injured and emotionally traumatized. Marion came to the small cow ranch owned by her father Jack Bartlet, and turned the farm into the horse sanctuary that is now Heartland. Unfortunately, just over 3 years ago, Marion died in a car accident, leaving Amy to carry on her rescue work.

Amy stood thinking about this, but was brought back down to earth when she heard the crunch of footsteps on the gravel behind her. She turned to see Ty Baldwin. Ty had come to work as a stable hand at Heartland five years ago when he was fifteen. He and Amy had been dating for more than two years.

"Here," Ty said, he wrapped an arm around Amy's shoulder, and handed her a cup of steaming coffee. They stood and watched the sunrise together.

"Still up for the ride?" Amy asked after a while. It was Sunday, and tomorrow was the first day of school for Amy's senior year.

"Yep," He replied. Amy, Ty, Amy's older sister Lou, and Lou's fiancé Scott Trewin were all going on a trail ride and picnic.

When the two had finished their coffee they headed up the gravel path to the farmhouse, (where Amy lived with Lou and their grandfather). No sooner than they'd reached the door that a car followed by a jeep came up the drive.

"You go saddle up, I'll get Lou." Amy said taking both the coffee cups.

"Thanks," Ty said, he put his hand momentarily to the small of Amy's back, and then walked off in the direction of the tack room.

As Amy walked to the farm house, she saw the vehicle's passengers make their way to the kitchen for coffee.

"Hey Amy," Soraya Martin, Amy's best friend said, she was pulling out milk and sugar for the coffee.

"You're lucky we're here to do all your work today," Matt Trewin joked as he went over to help Soraya, his girlfriend with the fridge.

"Is Lou up yet?" Amy asked her grandpa.

"I'll go check," Nancy, the girls' grandpa's girlfriend said putting down the coffee pot.

"I'm here!" Lou said, coming down the stairs, tying her short hair back with an elastic band. "Don't need to go looking for me."

"Is everyone here?" Grandpa asked. "Where's Scott."

"He already went to tack up, Lou we should go to." Amy answered, and tacked the end on with her eyebrows raised to stress the point.

"Where's Joni?" Lou looked around.

"Down here!" The girl said, she was sitting at the table behind Lou.

"Ok, we're set," Amy said, picking up the picnic basket from her grandpa. "You'll all be alright then?"

"Go now or you'll never leave!" Soraya joked, propelling Amy out the door. Amy laughed, because even though she wanted to go out, she knew what Soraya said was true. She and her sister walked down to the back barn to get their own horses.

"Who do you want me to ride." Lou asked as they entered the barn.

"I've already got Andy tacked, he's ready to go home, and I'm going to ride Spork, She's going home on Wednesday. A bit of a treat before they leave." Amy added with a smile. That's the way things worked at Heartland, as soon as a horse had been cured, it was sent back to its home, or re-homed.

The two girls walked the horses out to the yard, retrieved their horses from their stalls, and met Ty and Scott on the driveway.

"Ready yet?" Ty asked from where he was, mounted on Mercury. Scott was beside him on Barret the buckskin mare.

"Riding Mercury, he'll like that, lots of jumping." Amy observed, mounting Spork the black gelding, and walking her over to Ty and Mercury. The two horses touched noses.

Amy remembered with a smile that Mercury was just boarding there, and had no real problem, unlike all the other horses being ridden. He however had, had a problem a few years back, he had been rapped with a bamboo cane to make him jump higher for competitions, which squandered his love for the sport. But with some help from an old friend, Huten Whitepath, Amy had solved the horse, and he was now there only as a special favor while his owners were out of the country. Amy felt a wave of sorrow momentarily wash over her at the memory of Huten who had passed away at the beginning of the summer vacation.

"Well, I'm not sure about jumping..." Ty trailed off.

"You can't disappoint him!" Amy said sarcastically as they were off, pushing down her unhappy thoughts, and focusing on the day ahead of them.

"We'll see." Ty smiled, a small twinkle in his eye.

&

The day turned out to be very nice, the sky remained blue, and there was a slight warm breeze to keep the bugs away. The party stopped by a stream on the other side of Clairsdale Ridge for lunch, letting the horses graze while they talked about the upcoming year. They left around four o'clock so they would get back for supper and be able to help with the evening chores.

"Come on Ty!" Amy begged, "Just one jump."

Lou looked back along the trail from where she was riding along side Scott. "Take him over, he's looking really restless."

"Oh, alright!" Ty sighed dramatically, and turned the horse towards the fallen log. Mercury had been dancing after seeing another horse already jump, he was very competitive.

Amy watched from the other side, for she had already jumped. Ty pushed Mercury into a canter and awed Amy with his graceful, fluid movements with the horse.

As Mercury approached the jump, Amy heard a branch snap behind her. She turned and looked into the woods, she saw two blaze orange jackets, just past the tree line at the road's bend. Amy watched as one raised a shotgun, a shot rang out, followed by a crack and then a dull thump.

"Shit! I thought it was a---" A muffled voice said.

"RUN!" The other cut him off. There was loud crashing, as the two ran off into the brush.

Amy turned her head but her view was blocked by Mercury running past. Lou lunged and caught the horse's reigns, a puzzled expression on her face, the saddle was empty. Scott turned Barret, in a circle as she shied violently from the loud sound. Amy looked over to the log, but Ty was no where in sight.

"Ty?" Amy said craning her neck. Still she couldn't see him. "Ty?" She repeated a bit louder. She dismounted and began walking towards the log, she heard Spork snort in surprise then follow her.

Grasping the tree for support, Ty stood up. Clutching his right arm he looked towards Amy. Amy quickened her pace. Ty's pale face contorted in pain as he let go of his right arm, and put his hand to his stomach. Amy reached him as he hit the ground, clutching his middle. Amy grasped the air for his arm.

"Amy?" Lou asked trying to sooth Mercury. The horse was squealing frantically searching for his rider. "What's wrong?"

Realization dawned on her. "SCOTT!" Amy screamed, dropping to the ground beside Ty. "SCOTT COME QUICK, TY'S BEEN SHOT!"


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

Scott was already there. He rolled Ty onto his back, causing him to cry out with such pain that Amy had never heard before.

"Quick, unbutton his shirt, Lou I need some kind of bandage." Scott said urgently, checking Ty's pulse.

Amy gently pulled Ty's arms away from his already blood soaked torso. His eyes were wide, and he clutched the sand on the ground at his side. She swiftly unbuttoned the front of his shirt, her fingers slipped on the buttons as they were covered with dark blood. There were numerous punctures between his belt and his ribs, each just smaller than a dime, and each seeping with the dark crimson blood.

"Oh, god..." Ty choked, lifting his neck and shoulders off the ground, he saw his torso, and looked away, squeezing his eyes shut, he dropped back to the ground, hard.

"Here we go..." Scott muttered quietly, pressing Lou's sweater over Ty's middle. Amy watched Ty's stomach muscles contract sharply as he let out another cry, he moved to sit up, but Scott pushed him back to the ground. "Unless you want to kill yourself Ty, you'd better keep still."

Ty's eyes flashed open, and he looked at Scott, then at Amy. He lay still, but his hands which shook on the ground as he clenched them, and his muscles which twitched as Scott pushed down on the wounds, betrayed his feigned calm.

Amy took Scott's job of putting constant pressure on Ty's abdomen, her hands shook violently as she watched the pain in Ty's face, realizing that she was causing it. "He is not going to die," She said firmly, looking at Scott who was tying a make-shift splint onto Ty's arm. "What do we have to do?"

"I could go back for help," Lou suggested, holding back Mercury who was struggling against her grasp.

"Not enough time," Scott said shaking his head, pushing back a strand of his hair with his forearm, his hands were too bloodied for that task. He took Amy's spot. "Amy, he'll have to ride with you, can you do that, I don't think we should transport him... but there really is no other option..." Scott's voice trailed.

"Yes, I'm ready, let's go." Amy said urgently, nodding her head she scrambled to her feet.

"Here," Lou said holding the red checker sheet they'd used as a picnic blanket.

"Thanks," Scott took it and with some difficulty, he wrapped it tightly around Ty's middle. "Ty, can you stand?" He asked, somewhat loudly. Ty nodded.

Amy helped Scott help Ty to his feet. She looked down, and shuddered as she saw dark blood covering the sand where Ty had laid... a lot of dark blood. Ty swayed, but Scott put his hand under his elbow firmly. Lou led Spork over to the three, and assisted in sitting Ty on her back. Amy climbed up behind Ty, he leaned back against Amy's chest, his eyes were out of focus slightly, his breathing coming in short gasps, his hands returned to his stomach.

"Amy follow Lou," Scott instructed, mounting Barret. "I'll be behind with Mercury."

They moved out at a trot and after less 15 minutes, Ty started trembling.

"Amy... am I suppose to be this cold?" He asked in a frightened and equally shaken voice, his breathing had slowed from gasps to sharp intakes and he began shivering with each inhale. He reached his hand out blindly for Amy's, and holding the reigns with one hand, she grasped Ty's hand with the other. He was indeed cold to the touch.

"Scott," Amy yelled over her shoulder panicked. "Ty's cold, he's like ice."

"Keep a close eye on him," Scott replied. "He might go into shock."

Amy had an idea. She tied the reigns, and lay them down. Spork started slowing down, but Amy pushed her on with her calves. Amy reached into her jean pocket, and pulled out a small brown glass bottle. She carefully unscrewed the top, and sucked a small amount into the dropper in the lid.

"Ty can you lick your lips?" She asked. Ty opened his eyes and saw the bottle, he opened his mouth a crack, and drew his tongue across his dry lips.

"That's awesome," Amy murmured encouragingly, she put a drop of the liquid onto Ty's lower lip, and another on his upper lip. "Can you lick your lips again?" She asked. Again Ty licked his lips, this time he tried a bit harder to lick his entire lips.

"Which one?" He asked in a hoarse whisper, Ty's head rested on Amy's shoulder, and he turned it so he was looking at her through glazed eyes.

"Rescue Remedy." Amy answered. Ty nodded, and sighed. Amy closed the bottle, put it back in her pocket, reached up and caressed Ty's cheek, it was taut and trembling.

The trail opened up, and Amy saw the barns then the farmhouse. She grasped the reigns with one hand as one normally does when riding western, and put her other arm around Ty, holding him tight while she pushed Spork into a canter, then an all out gallop passing Lou. She didn't stop until she was right at the house's front door.

"Grandpa, Soraya, Jonni, Matt, Nancy!" She screamed, taking Ty's hand in her own again, squeezing it. "Someone, anyone come quick!" Ty squeezed her hand back, weakly, but it was enough for Amy.

Matt and Soraya were already coming out of the house, grandpa ran over from the front stable, and Nancy and Joni were rushing over from the herb garden.

"What is it Amy?" Soraya asked. "What happened?" She took in Ty's appearance, and his open red stained shirt with wide eyes.

"Help me get Ty into the house," Amy said quickly. "He's been shot," She slid off Spork, keeping one hand on Ty. Matt hurried forward, quickly grasping the seriousness of the situation. He grabbed Ty by the shoulders and helped him slide off.

Soraya gawked at Amy for a moment, then took Spork's reigns.

"Ty can you walk?" Amy asked. Ty stood for a moment, then his knees buckled and he sunk to his knees on the ground with a low groan.

"Here you go Ty," Scott appeared at Ty's side, and helped him up. "Matt can you help me?" The two carried Ty in the chair position into the living room, and laid him on the couch. Grandpa and Nancy came in after them, followed by Lou who grabbed the portable phone and called 911.

Amy sat on the floor beside Ty, she took his hand in her own and watched as Scott pealed off the picnic sheet. The sweater was soaked in blood and Lou cringed slightly as she handed Scott a towel taking her ruined shirt. Amy heard her speak into the phone briefly. "There's been a lot of blood loss... Yes, constantly for the past twenty minutes or so...oh," She shot a look at Ty. "He is quite pale, yes... oh, I see..."

Ty tightened his grip on Amy's hand and Scott applied pressure to his middle again. Amy's heart wrenched as she saw him arch his back slightly in pain. She brushed back a few strands of dark hair that strayed in front of his eyes, and caressed his jaw. His head turned immediately towards her touch, his eyes opened and Amy saw them glisten.

"The ambulance will be here in 15 minutes," Lou said, hanging up the portable, "Scott, should I call his parents?"

"...can't," Ty gasped suddenly, he coughed. "...Out of town." His eyes rolled, and he shut them tight.

"Do you have any other relatives I could contact?"

Ty shook his head with another low groan.

Amy looked into his face; his skin was pale, and she was alarmed to see a bluish tint appearing. Ty snapped his eyes open, and looked straight at Amy. His eyes stood out against his face so well, they easily showed how much pain he was in, Amy felt her insides turn to ice. She watched a tear roll down the side of his face, she had never seen Ty cry before...

"You're going to be ok," Amy said, trying more to convince herself than him. Ty, eyes still on Amy, nodded slightly. _Agreeing with me?_ Amy thought. He then took in a sharp trembling breath, squeezing his eyes shut and he sighed, a deep shuddered sigh.

Amy looked at Scott with alarm, her heart stopped and jumped to her throat.

"I think he's passed out," He said. Ty shook his head, opening his eyes half way, his shoulders twitched.

"Ty, you can't sleep," Grandpa said. Ty nodded, but his eyelids were heavy and they slowly shut again. He drew his tongue across his parched lips. Amy shook his hand and squeezed it. His eyes opened again, and again his shoulder twitched.

"The ambulances coming," Joni said suddenly from by the window. Every one was silent, all that could be heard for a moment was Ty's fast shallow breathing, but then distant sirens rose.

"Please, just hang in there Ty," Nancy said, looking extremely pale herself. Amy suspected it was because she had lost her daughter and husband in the past.

The sirens grew louder, and Jack went out to meet them as the ambulance stopped at the door. Amy looked into Ty's eyes, they were out of focus, but slowly looked up and down her face, telling her that he was still awake, both sides of his face were now streaked with tears.

"--love...you," He whispered after taking in a gasping breath. A sob escaped Amy, and she softly kissed the back of his hand that she was holding.

"I love you too," Amy whispered, Ty nodded with a small smile as Amy put his hand back on his chest, his eyes drooped closed and didn't re-open. The paramedics rushed into the room, pushing a stretcher.

"Amy, you can stay with Ty. We'll follow," Her grandpa said, coming in after the paramedics. They lifted Ty onto the stretcher, and loaded him into the back of the vehicle, his eyes were still closed.

Soraya gave Amy's shoulder a squeeze, before she got in beside Ty. Amy turned and offered a weak tearful smile before the doors were closed.


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

The drive to the hospital took an eternity. Amy sat on the small seat beside Ty's stretcher as the paramedics examined him. As soon as the doors had closed, they began attaching a maze of tubes to his left arm. The right was stabilized, the make-shift splint was switched for a real one. An oxygen mask was placed over Ty's face, and Amy was told that he had fallen unconscious. She watched, and heard one say to the other that there were 11 punctures, 7 shot gun BBs were still in him, but 4 had exited through his back. Amy was given a blanket and a sport drink; she assumed that they were treating her for mild shock.

When they reached the hospital, Ty was rushed into the operating room, leaving Amy in the waiting area. She stood staring at the white doors for a while until the lady at the reception desk walked over and reassuringly led her to one of the couches. She sat, and stared at the clock. 4:57...5:05... 5:08...5:19...

"Amy!" Lou rushed over; Amy hadn't even noticed they had arrived. Lou wrapped her arms around her sister's shoulder. "Where's Ty?" Amy threw a glance at the big white double doors of the OR. Lou's eyes widened.

"What did they say?" Grandpa asked gently, sitting on the couch beside Amy.

"He has... 11 punctures," Amy said her voice not sounding like it belonged to her. "Seven are still in him, and 4 exited through his back, someone mentioned lead poisoning?" Lou gasped.

Grandpa went over to the front desk, and read the lady the information he had on a small card he kept in his wallet. This scene was all too familiar to Amy, and a tear slid down her cheek.

"He'll be alright." Lou said reassuringly, reading her thoughts.

"What if he -" Lou cut Amy off.

"He won't go into a coma again." She said firmly.

The three sat there for an hour, mainly in silence, Grandpa and Lou talking every now and then in low voices. At quarter after six Amy looked up from her daze as the two white doors opened.

She jumped up, and the nurse pushing the bed stopped in front of Amy and spoke to the woman behind the reception counter. For a moment Amy almost couldn't recognize Ty. He was still very pale, but his skin had thankfully lost its bluish tint. He had no shirt on, but instead was covered in a bandage reaching from his armpits to where the blanket over him ended at this waist. The nurse began pushing Ty away, down the opposite hall and Amy made to follow when she was stopped.

"Miss Fleming," A doctor pulled her aside, "My name's Dr. Derek Carson." The young doctor extended his hand and firmly shook Amy's. "Would you mind coming for a small walk with me?"

"W-what about Ty?" Amy stuttered looking after the nurse.

"He's fine, the anesthetics should wear off in about an hour, I'll take you to his room before then." The doctor said sounding brisk, but kind at the same time, Amy marveled at his ability to do so.

Amy looked at Lou and grandpa. "Go on," Her grandpa said.

Amy nodded and, rather reluctantly, followed the doctor. He lead her through a maze of bright white painted corridors, and finally to an office with a large window extending across an entire wall. Amy looked out it before she sat down; it held a beautiful view of the parking lot.

"Would you mind telling me exactly what happened today Amy?" The doctor asked, sitting behind his desk, and taking out some papers and a pen.

As Amy described the eventful portion of the ride, the doctor asked several questions, and wrote things on his papers.

"This Scott Trewin, he's a doctor?" He asked after Amy had finished.

"He's the veterinarian for our horse sanctuary," Amy answered. The doctor wrote more on his paper.

"Well," Dr. Carson began after a moment. "This Scott's medical knowledge, be it for animals or people saved Mr. Baldwin's life today. He lost a lot of blood. I'll explain the extent of his injuries to you and your family after I've confirmed my notes with the other doctors."

"That's alright," Amy nodded. "Can I go see Ty now?"

"Of course, I'll take you there myself. He should come around in ten or fifteen minutes," The doctor stood up, and led Amy down the hall. They took the elevator back down to the main level, and went down the hall just past the front desk. Amy was thankful that it wasn't the same, take the elevator up to the third floor, and walk halfway down the hall to your right, as had been the route when Ty had been in the hospital last time.

Dr. Carson left Amy at the door, and excused him self back in the same direction they had come. Amy entered the room.

The scene was horribly familiar and Amy felt hot tears sting her eyes.

Ty lay on a bed, an IV attached to his left arm, and a splint on his right. Amy whimpered slightly at the memory of a similar scene. Ty had been lying in a coma for several months, not yet a year ago. She had visited him almost every day, wishing for a sign of improvement, but it took a long time for that to come. She knew that the circumstances were not the same, but she couldn't help the wave of emotions brought upon her by the scene before her eyes.

Lou moved from her seat at Ty's side, and offered the chair to Amy. She shook her head, and knelt beside his bed, watching his chest rise and fall with each breath. She reached out and curled her fingers around Ty's now warm hand.

Amy told Grandpa and Lou what the doctor said, and they were soon joined by Soraya, Matt and Scott.

"Nancy and Joni stayed behind to watch the horses," Scott explained, squeezing Amy's shoulder reassuringly, and standing behind Lou's chair.

Amy talked with Soraya, but was startled when Ty's hand shifted under her own fingers. She looked up, and watched his eyes flutter several times and then, finally open.

"I'll go get the nurse," Lou said after she had noticed. She, Scott and Grandpa left.

Amy squeezed Ty's hand slightly and he looked down at her, a small smile lifted the corners of his mouth, he stretched his fingers out and twisted them through Amy's.

"Do you two want to be alone for a bit?" Matt asked.

"Nah, that's alright, the doctor should be here in a minute anyway," Amy shrugged, her eyes intent on Ty's face.

Ty looked around the room, registering his surroundings silently. He then cleared his throat.

"Not back here again," He said with a small smile and a dramatic sigh.

The three smiled back. "But you're coming home sooner," Soraya reassured quickly.

Within minutes Lou and Grandpa came in. Lou explained that Scott and Doctor Carson were in the hall talking, but those two followed shortly.

They all assembled around the bed, Doctor Carson introduced himself to Ty.

"I assume you are all waiting for the diagnosis," Doctor Carson said, examining his clipboard. " Well, I have some good news and I have some bad news. The good news is that you don't have blood poisoning Mr. Baldwin, and none of the shots hit any main arteries or bones, though three were within an inch of your liver. We will be monitoring your condition over the next week, and you should be able to go home after that."

Ty along with several of the others nodded. Amy got up from her kneeling position, and sat on the edge of the bed, she took Ty's hand, he squeezed hers.

"But like I said, I do have some bad news, and that is that due to heavy loss of blood and therefore lack of oxygen to your lower extremities, coupled with the stain placed on them with you being transported in your condition, you will be unable to walk for the next six to eight weeks." The doctor continued in a rather brisk tone. "When you are discharged, in about a week, you will be given a wheel chair, and some exercises to bring you back to strength. I encourage you to stay in the wheel chair until you are fit enough, so you don't run the risk of doing further damage to your legs."

Ty looked blank for a moment, but nodded.

"There will be scarring on your front from the entrance wounds, and there were four exit wounds on your back, those will produce some quite nasty scars as well." He nodded and looked around the room a bit uncomfortably at all the shocked faces. He looked back at his clip board, and said sympathetically. "That said, I'll leave you all alone," The doctor excused himself, leaving the room in silence.

"Well, Ty," Grandpa cleared his throat, breaking the stillness. "You're welcome to stay at Heartland until your parents get back." Ty nodded and choked out a 'thanks'.

"Amy," The girl looked up, and saw Scott, Matt and Soraya standing, her best friend talking to her. "We're going back to take care of the horses."

Amy stood up and hugged Soraya. "Thanks."

She then turned to Scott and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank-you." She whispered her voice thick with tears. "Thank-you so much," She repeated. Scott rubbed her back knowingly. When she had composed herself and pulled back, he smiled warmly at her and put his hand on her shoulder momentarily, reassuringly.

The three left, and Amy returned her seat.

"Amy, we should get back too. You've got school tomorrow," Lou said pointedly, after the three had been gone for five minutes, and Amy hadn't uttered a word.

"Could I have another five minutes?" Amy asked. Lou nodded and she and Grandpa left Amy and Ty alone.

"Amy, they're right. You should probably get back," Ty said after they'd sat in silence for a few minutes.

"How does this happen?" Amy asked Ty her voice came again as a thick whisper.

"Amy, I don't understand. What do you mean?" Ty asked rubbing her arm.

"This is the second time I've come so close to losing you," She responded, turning to him. "And now you can't walk for a month, maybe two." Tears formed in her eyes, a small sob escaping her lips. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"Sh," Ty soothed. He moved to sit up, paused at the pain he found in his torso and arm as he put pressure on it, but sat straight up and wrapped his arms around Amy, regardless. He rocked her gently as her tears fell.

"I'm fine," Ty said. Amy looked up at him through her glassy eyes, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "Well ok, it hurts a bit, but you heard the doctor, I'm not going to die."

"You'd better not," Amy said firmly. She put her arms around Ty, resting her cheek on his chest, Ty's chin resting on the top of her head. He squirmed uncomfortably after a while and Amy pulled back.

"Does that hurt?" She asked in concern.

"A bit," Ty tried to smile.

Amy reached out and touched the bandage covered area lightly, her hand venturing up higher on the concealed space. Ty flinched slightly when she passed a point. Amy quickly pulled back.

"Ty, did that hurt?" She asked alarmed, her eyes wide. The memory of the look on Ty's face when she had to put pressure on his wound flashed in front of her eyes, causing them to well up again.

"A bit," Ty said again, but added, at a tear that fell from Amy's eye. "Only a little, like a pin prick," Ty caught her tears, and wiped them away. He wrapped his arms around her. "I'm fine, it'll get better." But again Amy could feel a slight tremble in his muscles.

"Lie back down," Amy instructed, pulling from his embrace.

Ty obeyed her, and lay back on the bed, lowering himself gently to the mattress. Amy pulled up the covers, and smoothed them over him.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Amy said softly, getting up and bending to kiss him. "I promise." She walked to the door, and turned to look at Ty before she left. She saw that he had drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

Soraya called her mom, explained what had happened, and was given permission to stay the night. Amy was grateful. The two, Lou, Grandpa, Scott, Matt, Nancy and Jonni finished the evening chores rather quickly, and sat around the kitchen table, drinking hot chocolate and discussing the horses, the upcoming school year and anything Amy could think of to keep her mind off Ty.

"How's Mercury?" Amy asked Scott, she hadn't been to the back barn when she had been doing chores.

"He's fine, nothing hit him, but I think he's pretty wired." Scott answered.

"I used some lavender while I was using T-touch on him," Joni said, causing Amy to smile at her initiative. "He was a bit relaxed, but he needs someone he's used to."

"I'll go out and check on him before I go to bed," Amy answered, downing the rest of her drink, standing up and putting the empty mug in the sink. "Which will be soon, I'm beat. I'll go check the horses now."

Matt jumped up. "I'll come with," He said.

Amy gave him an odd look, but didn't protest.

They walked into the front stable block, and found most of the horses sound. Sassafras, a strawberry roan mare was pacing her stall nervously.

"What's with her?" Matt asked, leaning over the half door.

"She had a night scare a while ago. She almost put her foot through the back of the stall." Amy explained, letting herself into the stall, extending her hand for the animal. Sassafras breathed deep Amy's sent, blowing out hard, showing her trust. Amy's fingers began working small circles over her muzzle, and she soon calmed.

"That's it?" Matt asked as Amy let herself out of the stall after just a few minutes.

"She should be alright," Amy nodded at the horse whose head now hung low and relaxed.

The two made their way to the back barn, and Amy shivered slightly, she had revisited that memory too many times today. The roof and beams of the barn collapsed, killing one of the horses, and putting Ty in his coma. Amy shook her head. He wasn't in a coma now, she kept reminding herself, he was comfortably asleep in the hospital. But she still looked up at the new beams when she walked into the barn.

Mercury was the only horse awake when Amy flipped on the lights. His head was looking over the half door, but to Amy's surprise he looked past her as she neared. He looked like he was waiting for someone.

Amy let herself into Mercury's stall, working small circles of T-touch on his back and neck while Matt let himself into Daisy's stall, across the aisle.

"Who would name a gelding Daisy?" He asked from the stall. Amy had noticed he took a special liking to this horse.

"It's actually _Flaming_ Daises," Amy said with a laugh, she leaned out Mercury's door as Scott walked in to the barn. "But Daisy sounds nicer."

"What's he here for?" Matt asked, working the same circles over the gelding's face.

"He freaks out at sudden noises," Amy explained, watching Matt work with the horse, she hadn't known that he knew t-touch, but she assumed that he must have picked up something after all the time he spent at Heartland. They had been friends since before Amy could remember.

Mercury nudged Amy out of his way and looked down the aisle, his ear flicked back, and his muzzle drooped slightly as he saw Scott.

"He doesn't look too happy," Scott observed, holding his palm out, the gelding sniffed it half-heartedly. "He kind of reminds me of Pegasus."

"But his owners aren't dead," Amy was alarmed at the mention of her dad's old show jumper who had seemingly died of grief when Marion had passed away, but it had really been cancer. "He's even enjoying being back here."

"No, I mean he's looking for someone," Scott pointed out. The gelding kept a steady gaze down the row at the door.

Amy nodded in agreement. "Maybe he misses the circuit," She said referring to the horse's show jumping career.

"Maybe..."Scott said thoughtfully. "Well Matt, we'd better get going, mom called, she's wondering what happened to us. Amy, Lou said you'd better get to bed."

Amy let herself out of the stall and walked back up the aisle with the other two. She walked them to Scott's jeep.

"Thanks again Scott," She said after Matt had gotten into the passenger side, Scott turned to Amy.

"Amy, it was nothing." Scott shrugged, playing with the keys in his hands.

Amy shook her head. "The doctor told me that if it weren't for you Ty would be dead, I believe him." Amy explained. "If you hadn't been there, I would have had no clue what to do." Amy's eyes welled up. "I almost thought he had died on the couch, but he didn't," A tear slipped down her cheek. Amy blushed, she had indeed been thinking that after Ty had said he loved her. She thought that he had given up, and she now felt embarrassed expressing that out loud.

"It's alright," Scott put his hands on Amy's shoulders. "Ty's going to be here in a week. That'll keep you going." Amy nodded, then Scott added. "I think that, that will keep Ty going as well."

Amy looked up, and saw a smile spread across Scott's face. She punched him playfully. "Thanks." She wiped her eyes on the sleeves of her sweater.

Scott nodded and got into the jeep. Amy waved them away then went back to the house.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

Amy's alarm went off at the usual 6am the following morning. She shot out of bed; jolted from her uneasy sleep by the loud noise and turned it off. She sat back down on her bed and rubbed her temples with her fingertips. Her dreams had been riddled with images of Ty lying on the sand, blood seeping through his shirt; every time, she had to run to him from a distance that must have been the same as she had been when she'd stopped Spork and every time she made it beside him, he had tears streaking both sides of his face, he took a gasping breath and whispered a broken "--love…you," before his eyes drooped and didn't reopen. Shaking her head slightly in a failed attempt to push the images from her mind, Amy pushed herself to her feet, grabbed the first shirt and pair of jeans her fingers touched and after throwing them on, walked unsteadily to the bathroom. 

Looking at herself in the mirror, Amy had to admit; she'd seen movies with zombies that had more life in their eyes than her own. She splashed cool water on her face, patted her face dry on a fluffy towel and left.

Quietly descending the stairs, she saw her mother's old bedroom (now the spare bedroom) door open slowly.

"Do you always get up this early?" Soraya asked through a yawn, rubbing sleep from her eye with one balled fist while attempting to pull a sweater over her t-shirt with the other hand.

"Every morning," Amy answered in a low voice. "You can go back to sleep if you want, I usually get things started outside before Joni and Ty get here."

"No way," Soraya protested, looking anxiously into Amy's obviously still tired face. "I'm here to help"

The pair donned barn jackets and boots and headed into the yard.

The morning activities were strangely normal, Joni arriving as usual at seven by which time Amy had already mixed the feeds and Soraya had made a good dent in the mucking. Lou emerged from the house quite shortly after Joni and took up a shovel, Amy suspected, it was in an attempt to lighten the workload.

Soraya retreated to the house to shower while Amy took a concoction of rosemary, mint, sage and jojoba oil to Mercury's stall. Upon entering the stall she felt unnerved to find not only that the horse hadn't touched the food that Lou had brought him, but also that he was, again anxiously watching the barn door.

Keeping up a steady stream of random prattle, Amy massaged the oil into the area around Mercury's muzzle, down his neck and part of his shoulders. After she had reached his neck, his head drooped in relaxation, but she persevered until she'd completely covered the muscles of his shoulders. Resting her forehead against his withers for a moment, Amy breathed in the sharp mixture of oils. Feeling refreshed, she patted his side.

"Eat some breakfast and maybe Joni will longe you today," She said out loud patting his side again before letting herself out of his stall and going back to the house for a shower.

&

Amy kept a constant watch on the clock in all her classes that day. She knew she was being completely irrational, but she wanted to see Ty, very badly. She reasoned with herself as she sat silently at a table with Soraya, Matt and a handful of their other friends, that the logic behind this need was routed in the severity of Ty's condition last time and the fact that this time he had almost a dozen holes in him. She shuddered involuntarily at this thought causing Soraya to shoot her a worried glance.

When (finally) the final sounded, she bolted for her locker, running into someone as she turned a corner in the hall.

"Watch where you're going- - Oh, Amy!"

Amy groaned inwardly as she stammered an apology to her absolute least favourite person on the planet, Ashley Grant.

"Oh, Amy!" Ashley repeated, in an uncharacteristically kind voice. "I heard what happened to Ty, is he going to be alright?"

"How-" But Amy stopped herself realizing she didn't care how Ashley knew about Ty. Of course she sounded sympathetic, she had always been interested in Amy's boyfriend. "He's going to be fine."

"Oh thank god!" Ashley exclaimed, delicately placing her immaculately manicured fingertips dramatically on her chest. "I was so worried, if there's anything I can do, we could always send someone over to help out at Heartland."

Ashley's entourage of friends made sounds of awe at her gesture but Amy knew better than to accept anything from Green Bair, the high-end boarding stable owned by the Grants.

"We're really fine, I have to go…" Amy trailed off, brushing past Ashley and her group.

"That was rude," Amy heard one of Ashley's friends say not so quietly.

"It must be really hard for her," Ashley's falsely sugary voice wafted to Amy as the latter made a beeline for the parking lot. "After what happened to Ty last year, I'm surprised he's still there, I don't see how he thinks their relationship is worth it…"

Amy ignored this comment, almost laughing at the poor attempt to make her feel any concern over her and Ty's relationship. She immediately found her grandpa's station wagon in the parking lot, Lou had promised that morning to pick her up and take her to the hospital.

"I called the hospital before I came," Lou said as Amy settled in her seat, buckling herself in. "They said Ty has been asleep all morning so he might not be awake when we get there."

"That's alright," Amy said with a nod. "I still want to go."

Lou filled the ride with questions about Amy's day. She was obviously disappointed when Amy didn't have anything interesting to say, but (joyfully) refrained from chiding her.

Relief washed through Amy when she rounded the corner into Ty's room.

"Hey," He said brightly, a radiant smile lit up his face when he heard her exhale heavily at the doorway. She hadn't realized it, but Amy had been holding her breath as she walked down the hospital corridor.

"Hey," She breathed back, entering the room and after pressing a brief kiss to his cheek, sitting in the chair beside him, moving it close to the bed.

"How'd you get here?" Ty asked when no one followed her into the room. He put down a book, giving Amy his full attention.

"Lou drove me, she's getting herself some coffee," Amy explained. She was pretty sure that it would take Lou a half hour to get her coffee, judging by the meaningful look she had received when Lou said they had to leave in half an hour.

They were silent for a couple long minutes. Amy looked Ty up and down with several observant and calculating glances. She noted that his colour had returned to normal and that his eyes were brighter than they had been the day previous. He was sitting up and the book now resting on the bedside table told her that he was already restless. She was looking into his face when he spoke.

"What?" He asked in a questioning and almost playful voice.

"I don't know," Amy answered, looking down at her hands as she felt a pang of emotion rush though her. _Stupid Ashley_…

"What's the matter?" Ty asked, reaching for and taking her hand, giving it a small shake.

"Nothing,"

"Give me a little more credit than that," Ty said, a triumphant smile gracing his face as she looked up at him.

"Ugh…" Amy groaned, looking at Ty with hat must have been a pained expression for his own fell slightly. "Stupid Ashley," She muttered under her breath.

"What did she say now?" Ty asked, gently prying.

"Just stupid stuff about this and last year," Amy explained, looking down at her hand in his. "Stupid, really. But I already felt guilty and she just _had_ to add to that with-"

"Hang on," Ty cut her off. "Amy why would you be feeling guilty about anything?"

Amy looked up and saw genuine confusion in Ty's eyes. "If I hadn't insisted on you taking that jump then-"

"That's hardly your fault," Ty interrupted again.

"You wouldn't have been shot at," Amy finished.

"Amy," Ty said softly. "Amy," he repeated her name so she looked up at him. "Do you really think I'm blaming you?"

Amy opened her mouth, "I-"

"Do you really think that that guy who thought a white horse was a deer still wouldn't have shot at me?" Ty asked again with a crooked grin.

"I-"

"Do you really think that-"

"That you need to stop cutting me off?" Amy asked with an innocent smile on her lips. "Yes, I do!"

"Just emphasizing my point," Ty grinned.

"I think that I want you out of the hospital and back with me at Heartland where you belong," Amy's added emphasis on the word 'me' brought a smile to Ty's lips and he pulled on her hand, drawing her into his arms.

"The best part about this," Ty mumbled into her hair, pressing a kiss onto the top of her head. "I get to stay with you for three weeks."

Amy pulled back slightly. "Where are your parents?"

"Dad was on a job out to Wyoming and he took Lee and mom with to visit family in Utah," Ty explained.

"When did they leave?"

"Yesterday, ironically," Ty answered. "They're gone for three weeks."

"You should have said something, you'd've been by yourself at home," Amy frowned pulling further back and looking up into his eyes.

"I'm a big boy, Amy. I can take care of myself."

"I know that," Amy shook her head. "I mean you could have stayed over without the dramatics."

"What?" Ty looked shocked, but Amy caught the glint in his eye. "And miss out on this fun?"

"Ready to go?" Lou asked from the doorway.

Amy looked over at Lou then down at her watch, unwilling to believe that it had been a half hour; it had in fact been over forty-five minutes.

"Coming," Amy said with a wistful glance at Ty.

"Go, I promise I'll be here tomorrow," Ty joked.

"God you're in a good mood today," Amy remarked.

Ty chose not to answer, but instead pulled her in for a kiss. This caught Amy off guard but she closed her eyes and reveled in the feel of him pulling slightly on her upper lip, she responded by doing similar to his lower. Feeling his lips pull up in a smile, Amy drew back and opened her eyes. Ty leaned toward her again and kissed her quickly on the lips. "Go," he whispered.

Amy left the room after a backward glance and followed Lou out to the car. Her mind was a million miles away from blaming herself for the accident and somehow, she thought, that was Ty's intent.


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

The next four days followed the same routine with the exception of Amy driving herself to school when the vehicle was not otherwise needed. Amy paid little or no attention to her classes; instead she kept her eye on the clock. Her teachers had given up reprimanding her and so she sat at the back unbothered. In reality, there was no reason for the teacher to be upset with her; she was doing all her homework. 

On Friday, Amy had to go to Heartland directly after school; a potential buyer was going to be coming over to meet Rocky. Rocky had been found wearing a tattered harness, wandering around some particularly rocky terrain near where Teak's Hill and Clairsdale Ridge met. The horse was discovered by Joni who took it onto herself to search for the owners, when none had come forward and after the animal's trust in humans was firmly reestablished, she was ready for a new home.

After establishing a date and time for the Patersons to take Rocky to her new home, Amy realized that she wouldn't have enough time to get back into town to see Ty. _He'll understand_. She convinced herself, and turned her attention on the horses she would be able to work with in the extra time.

Amy slumped down in the armchair that sat in the corner of the kitchen; she threw her legs over one armrest and leaned back against the other. She stretched and reached for the cordless phone that had been left on the table. _I hope he's not sleeping_. She thought to herself, noting that the digital clock on the phone's screen said 9:04. She'd just turned the hand set on when she looked up and saw through the kitchen window, a light on in the front stable block. Amy clapped her hand to her pocket and felt the small glass bottle. She'd meant to stop in the front block on her way up from the back barn and turn the feed room's light off when she'd put the bottle away.

Putting the phone down on the chair, she rose with a groan and grabbed her sneakers.

"I forgot a light," Amy called as she headed for the door.

"Alright," She heard both her grandpa and Lou say simultaneously. Lou in her office and their grandpa in the living room.

Amy flicked the main lights on and was greeted by a few dazed snorts from the horses. She took the bottle from her pocket, put it on the bench in the feed room and shut off its light. Emerging from the room her eyes fell on Chester, the broad quarter horse who was taking up residence in the stall across from the feed room. He pawed the ground in his stall before reaching his head back, as if to try and nip at or scratch his stomach. Amy immediately pulled her cell phone from her pocket and entered his stall.

"Heartland," She heard Lou say.

"Lou, its me," Amy said in a rush as she reached Chester's halter, pulling him along with her, walking him around his stall. "I think Chester's colicky again."

"I'll call Scott," Lou answered.

"Just warn him, I think its pretty mild, we can probably wait it out for tonight," Amy said, walking the horse around.

"Alright, do you need anything?" Lou asked.

"I'll be fine." Amy replied.

She hung up, put the phone back in her pocket and continued walking with Chester.

&

Amy was still walking around with Chester at seven the next morning. Scott had come over at 2am and given the gelding almost a gallon of mineral water and after listening to the horse's side, instructed Amy to continue walking him until the colic passed. Amy's legs had begun to feel like lead and her eyelids were drooping, in an attempt to stay awake she had started singing just after Scott had left, but by seven she was starting to run out of songs.

"Oh The Grand old Duke of York he had ten thousand men, he marched them up to the top of the hill, and he marched them down again. When they were up, they were-"

"Amy?"

Amy looked up when she was cut off. Joni was standing in the doorway of the stall.

"How long have you been out here?" Joni demanded, entering the stall and putting a hand on Chester's sweaty side.

"Nine," Amy sighed, turning Chester for another circuit of the stall.

"I can hear abdominal sounds," Joni observed, pressing her ear to his side, following along with Amy's pace. "I think he's over the worst, why don't you got get some sleep."

"I'll be fine," Amy protested, though she really knew she was going to give in and didn't bother to fight it.

Joni didn't say anything but took Amy's place and nudged her gently towards the door.

"Thanks," Amy mumbled sleepily as she retreated towards the house. She made it to the living room and deciding against scaling the stairs to her room, collapsed on the couch, pulling a pillow into her arms and falling asleep before she had even brought it behind her head.

&

Amy woke up at noon and after changing into some clean clothes and drinking a very strong cup of coffee, went out to the yard. She met Joni as the other girl was on her way out of the front block.

"Hey, I was just coming to see if you were up," Joni said, with a small wave. "It's my half day, and I was kind of hoping you wouldn't mind me taking off, I need to do some serious grocery shopping."

"Not at all," Amy shook her head, remembering that she would be on her own that afternoon. "How's Chester?"

"He recovered after about five minutes," Joni said gently. "You must have worked wonders with him." She added the last bit in an obvious attempt to lift her spirits.

"Slow wonders," Amy sighed. "Have fun shopping."

"Will do," Joni said. After quickly rattling off the horses she'd exercised and what other therapies she'd started with some of the horses, Joni retreated to her car.

Amy watched her go, her eyes then sliding to and lingered on Ty's truck that had been parked in the same place all week. She tore her gaze away and after stopping briefly at Chester's stall to see his condition first hand, she went to the back barn to get take Juniper.

Juniper had issues with loading into trailers, but since Joni was gone, Amy's grandpa was running errands and Lou had left for lunch with Scott's mom, Amy decided against attempting to trailer the horse. She instead decided to join up with him.

Joining up was always Amy's favourite part of helping any horse. The pure and raw display of trust when the horse chose to come to her always gave her goose bumps; she had yet to find anything that came close to that feeling.

Juniper had just lowered his head and began making the chewing motions Amy was waiting for, the sign that he was ready to join up, when Amy saw from the corner of her eye, her grandpa's station wagon pull up the drive. She let Juniper do another circuit and a half before she dropped her shoulders and turned forty degrees away from him. Without hesitation the horse approached her and dropping his head, nudged her hand with his nose. Amy chuckled to herself lightly as she turned and rubbed Juniper's face. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the mint that she was certain Juniper was expecting.

Amy looked towards the house where her grandpa was parked and saw him unloading something from the car. She raised her hand briefly then turned back to Juniper, sending him back around the ring again.

This time the join up was much quicker than the previous. Juniper wanted to reunite with Amy and knew what was expected to do it.

When, once again Juniper was with Amy in the centre of the ring, Amy turned towards the gate. She almost literally felt something cold constrict in her chest when her eyes fell on the gate.

"Surprise," Ty said. He was sitting in his wheel chair beside the gate, leaning towards the bars to see through them, his arms resting on the bars.


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

Amy felt tears prickling behind her eyes as she moved Juniper towards the gate. Her legs once again felt like lead and she inconspicuously leaned against Juniper's broad shoulder as she walked to the gate. 

"Hey," Amy said softly, her voice was becoming hard to find behind a lump that was building in her throat. "I… I thought you were in the hospital for another – another night?" Amy stuttered slightly when she'd reached Ty. She was attempting to compose herself and conceal the sudden onslaught of emotions she was feeling. She was failing miserably.

"Are you alright, Amy?" Ty asked looking up at her, concern etched into his face.

"I'm fine," Amy shook her head. "I'm just going… put this guy away, I'll be up at the house in… minute," Amy finished, swallowed hard and turned away from Ty's shocked expression.

She reached Juniper's stall all right. While bending to pick a body brush from the groom kit outside his stall however, she continued falling toward the wall of the stall, turning slightly until she was sitting with her back against the stall with her knees pulled up to her chest. A deep ripping sob tore through Amy and she wrapped her arms around her legs, burying her face in her knees.

She wanted to attribute this reaction to her lack of sleep but she knew that fatigue would only be emphasizing the real reason for her tears. Seeing Ty in the wheelchair made his condition more of a reality than she could handle. He couldn't walk for a month and regardless of what he'd said, she still blamed herself to a degree. His entire future had always rooted around Heartland and now it seemed to her that she had managed to mess up his life for a month and a half. She didn't want to feel this way but now that the idea was planted in her head she couldn't shake it.

She rocked backward and forward tears soaking into the knees of her jeans when, at the feeling of something on her arm her heart rate skyrocket as she jumped. She looked at the hand on her arm; she looked up and saw Ty.

She sniffled and wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands.

Ty lifted himself out of the chair and sat beside Amy on the cement floor. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her towards him. She leaned into his chest and as the weight and warmth of his arms surrounded her Amy dissolved into tears again.

Ty waited patiently for her tears to subside. Once her breathing had returned to normal he pushed her back, turning to face her and spoke in a tone so serious that it sobered her up immediately.

"Amy, I want you to listen to me," He said, holding her upper arms, squeezing them lightly to put emphasis on certain words. "When I'm around you can't cry. I don't need it. I don't want it. I really, really just need you to act normal, like nothing happened."

Amy swallowed and nodded.

They were silent for a minute, Ty shifted so he sat with his legs out in front of him. "So what were you up to when we pulled up?" He picked a stray piece of hay from the floor and lightly tapped the back of her hand with it.

"I was just working with Juniper," Amy answered offhandedly, half waving to the stall behind her.

"I like seeing you join up," Ty said quietly, trailing the straw over Amy's thigh, drawing random shapes.

Amy had known he had seen her.

"I'm usually so busy, I don't get much of a chance to just watch you work," Ty continued. "I guess I'm going to see a few more join ups…" His voice trailed.

They sat for a while talking. Amy had composed herself and decided that she would honor Ty's wish and remain supportive and as normal as she could. They discussed what kind of work Ty would be able to do and as the topic of yard work arose, they simultaneously agreed that it was time for the evening feeds.

Amy had to walk a bit slower so Ty could match her pace but she didn't mind. In the feed room Amy mixed the feeds while Ty read over a note that had been left on the bench. Amy looked over and realized that Joni had written a note for her listing the horses she'd worked on, a reminder of her verbal list, no doubt.

"Joni said to go to bed early," Ty mused setting the note back on the bench and grabbing a pile of feed buckets. He set them on his lap.

"I was up all night with Chester," Amy answered. "He was colicky."

Ty nodded knowingly and led the way out to the aisle as Amy carried the other buckets. It was working out well and Amy began to feel better knowing that there were going to be some things that could be adapted. _I wonder how he'll take not being able to do very much hands-on work for a while…_ Amy thought to herself as they made their way to the back barn.

A frown graced Ty's face as he turned to the door. "How's Mercury?" He asked as Amy helped push him over the doorframe.

"He's fine," Amy commented as she pushed back the bolt to the horse's stall.

All the other horses had initially backed away from or suspiciously eyed the wheelchair, but as they entered Mercury's stall the horse instantly approached Ty, blowing out softly in his face before dropping his head to nuzzle his knee.

Ty rubbed between Mercury's eyes and looked up at Amy with a bemused expression. "I've never had a horse act like this before," he commented.

Amy nodded in agreement as Mercury picked his head up and again blew air contently in Ty's face. _Good thing you didn't see him during the week_, Amy thought to herself, reflecting on the horse's previously dejected nature and sulky attitude when he had given up his watch on the door and taken to hiding in the back of his stall.

Amy heard Lou's voice echo from the house. "Supper!"

Ty joined the family for supper and, seeking higher wisdom relayed Mercury's behavior to Amy's grandpa. Ty wore the same bemused expression as he had in the stall and as Amy passed the mashed potatoes to her grandpa she noted that he was wearing a very calculating expression.

"Well," Her grandpa paused to serve himself some of the steaming potatoes then carefully set the serving bowl on the potholder in front of him. "Horses, you have to remember, aren't really all that different from people. He could be feeling that it's his fault you fell off."

"But there have been horses here before that lost their nerve after riders have been thrown, they never acted like that before," Lou commented. "They usually just don't like being ridden in certain situations. Joni was riding Mercury earlier today, he was fine."

"Every horse is different," Amy gently corrected her older sister.

"So what should I do?" Ty asked. "We can't send Mercury home if he's feeling guilty."

"I think you should spend as much time as you can with him while you're recovering. Let him think that he's helping so if he does feel responsible, he can feel like he's helping you," Grandpa explained.

Ty nodded silently, turning back to his meal.


	8. Chapter 8

* * *

When Amy woke up the next morning she reached to turn off her alarm and lay on her bed a few minutes. The previous night had been refreshingly different than she'd expected. Lou had been working in the office while their grandpa and Ty watched a football game on one of the local stations. Ty had been taken home before arriving at Heartland so he could pick up clothes and other living necessities to last him for the few weeks he was expected to be over. He hadn't been able to contact his parents from the hospital during the week but left a message with some relatives whose house they were suppose to be visiting. Amy thought Ty seemed relieved that he hadn't reached them yet, she knew how his father had reacted to his last Heartland related injury, and if he did similar this time she was sure they might damage their relationship. 

Amy reflected on Ty and her grandpa's interaction during the evening. She knew her grandpa approved of their relationship, but that hadn't stopped her from worrying. She'd only ever really seen the pair in the same vicinity when Heartland was the topic of discussion. She was relieved to observe that during the game they were comfortable and bantered lightheartedly about the referee's calls. Amy had had too much homework and retreated to her bedroom early for the night.

Rolling over with a sigh, Amy reached for the pair of pants she'd left draped over the back of her desk chair and got dressed.

After a quick stop in the bathroom Amy descended the stairs as quietly as she could. From a point half way down the stairs she saw the spare bedroom's door was part way open. As she arrived at ground floor she saw, through the ajar door; a wheelchair beside the bed. Moving closer to the room she saw that Ty was sprawled out on the bed wearing only his boxer shorts. He was in a deep sleep; one hand cupping his forehead, the other resting on his abdomen, his facial features were completely relaxed and he looked peaceful.

Amy leaned close to the door and slowly pulled it closed, a small smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. She realized that she liked having Ty around, it made her feel happy to see him other than just when he was working and she was home from school. She shut the door and went outside to start mixing feeds.

Just before seven o'clock Amy heard the crunch of the wheelchair coming down the aisle of the back barn. She looked out from mucking Daisy's stall to see Ty outside Mercury's stall, rubbing between the horse's eyes. Leaning the pitchfork against stall's outside wall, Amy followed Ty as he had entered Mercury's stall.

"Morning," Ty greeted in a low voice, watching as Amy knelt on the clean bedding beside his chair. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder as they both watched Mercury pull on his hay net. Amy closed her eyes and happily breathed deep the smell of the horses, the clean straw and Ty's own distinct sent.

"Did you just sigh?" Ty broke Amy's reverie.

"Did I?" Amy asked, "I didn't notice."

"Well at least you're in a better mood than yesterday," Ty mused in a quiet, almost whispered voice.

"Lets pretend yesterday didn't happen," Amy said, her voice muffles as she turned her head and buried her face in his shoulder. She felt him press a kiss onto the top of her head.

"Hey you two, am I the only one who's going to be doing any work around here?" Joni's voice came loud in contrast to Amy and Ty's hushed conversation. Amy looked up to see Joni leaning over the half door, watching the gelding. "He looks better today," She remarked before moving back up the row.

&

Amy worked with Black Lightening, the Hanoverian warmblood that afternoon.

The tall and beautiful jet-black gelding was brought to Heartland after he'd thrown his previous rider on several occasions. The spirited and youthful rider hadn't wanted to admit that her horse was problematic until a friend had joined her on a trail ride and after witnessing her being thrown from her mount, her friend had begged her to get assistance. Black Lightening had been at Heartland for a week prior to Ty's incident on Clairsdale Ridge and Ty who had been primarily working with him had deduced that the real issue was a behavioral problem. Black Lightening realized that if he didn't feel like going riding, he needed only to buck his rider off and the ride would cease.

A week ago Ty had used a method they had utilized on a previous horse with the same disposition, strapping a dummy to the animal's back until he realized that the mount would not be falling off. Amy had decided to longe the horse with his riding tack on today, but not ride him.

As she moved the Black Lightening through his paces, Amy caught sight of Ty wheeling himself from the tack room to the back barn; a groom bucket perched on his lap. She noted that even with the distance she could see a distinct look of frustration in his normally calm eyes. With a pang of guilt, Amy realized that he would probably want to be working Black Lightening. She pushed this thought down, focusing on the gelding circling around the ring. Over lunch, Amy, Ty and Joni had agreed on the distribution of duties as far as Ty was concerned for the next month. At the meal, Amy could sense that Ty wasn't happy about his reduction of jobs, but she knew there was no point in pursuing the matter. In truth, there was only so much he could do while in a wheelchair.

Moving Black Lightening up to a canter, Amy tried to be empathetic. She knew that if _she_ were unable to help out with Heartland, for any amount of time, it would probably kill her.

&

"Amy, phone," Lou said, her hand over the mouthpiece of the cordless as she appeared at the door.

It was towards the middle of the following week, as Amy and Ty sat on the porch, playing cards in the fading sunlight. Amy reached out for the phone as Ty collected and reshuffled the deck.

"Hello, Amy Fleming here," she said into the phone, accepting the cards Ty had dealt her.

"Hello Amy," Came a warm and familiar voice.

"Carey! How are you?" Amy sat up and put the cards back on the table, focusing her full attention on the phone.

"I was afraid you wouldn't remember me," Cary's voice sounded delighted that her fears were unfounded.

"It's only been a few months," Amy said with a small laugh. She knew it would take much longer than that for her to forget Carey Whitepath, the granddaughter of Amy's deceased friend Huten Whitepath.

"Amy, the reason I'm calling is that I've been visiting family just south of you and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me dropping by on my way back home, I'd really like to come see Heartland…" Carey's sentence trailed off leaving it a question.

"Of course you can come!" Amy was excited, "Just let me check with grandpa to make sure it's alright with him."

They made arrangements and Amy's excitement was elated by the fact that Carey would be arriving on Friday and staying for the entire weekend. When Amy's hung up she relayed her excitement to Ty who smiled at Amy's enthusiasm.

"It'll be good to see her again," Ty said, dealing Amy a new hand.

Amy sat back in her chair with a wide grin plastered on her face. It would be amazing to see Carey again, she had really enjoyed her own stay at Ten Beeches, Carey's family's ranch in the Appalachians and she hoped Carey would have similar feelings about Heartland. As Amy tried to put on a poker face for Ty (which earned her a amused laugh from him), she formulated a rough agenda for the weekend. A trail ride would have to be high on the list.


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

The end of the week couldn't come fast enough for Amy. She had cleaned her room and brought an extra mattress up from the basement. Since Ty had the only spare room, Amy decided to give her bed to Carey, she only hoped the older girl wouldn't mind sharing a room. Amy mused over what Carey would have to tell her on the visit. Amy remembered that she had been itching to get away from her home and see the world; Amy couldn't wait to hear what she had been up to! 

Amy finished making her bed on the spare mattress in her room and she headed down stairs to join her grandpa in the kitchen. The smell of supper wafting up the stairs was making her mouth water; lunch in the school cafeteria seemed ages ago.

As she reached the middle of the stairs she saw Ty in his room with his back to the door. She paused. She watched as Ty pushed himself out of his wheelchair onto his feet. He looked unsteady, but held onto the chair's handles for support.

Amy started down the stairs again to offer to help him when she saw the wheelchair slip from its place and bolt to the opposite wall. Ty fell to the floor almost immediately, his head bouncing off the corner of the bedside table. He landed on the wrist he had sprained on the ride.

Amy was beside him in an instant.

"Ty, are you ok?" she demanded, kneeling beside him.

Ty groaned as he pulled himself off his arm and into a sitting position. He put his hand to the back of his head; his eyes were squeezed shut.

"Ah," He inhaled sharply. There was blood on his fingertips from the back of his head.

"What happened?" Amy's grandpa asked from the doorway.

"Ty fell," Amy answered quickly, helping Ty as he pulled himself up to sit on the bed.

Her grandpa disappeared and was back in a moment with the first aid kit from the kitchen.

"Are you alright Ty?" Jack asked, looking at the back of Ty's head, gingerly pushing his dark hair away from his scalp.

"I just fell," Ty said quietly.

"Its only a scratch," Jack said, pulling a cotton swab and antiseptic from the first aid kit.

Amy sat down on the bed beside Ty and with her elbows on her knees, she leaned forward, her palms pressed hard against her eyes.

"Amy, you can't," Ty said gently, putting his hand on her back.

"I'm know," She whispered. "I'm trying."

"Amy?" Came a voice from the door.

Amy looked up and saw Carey standing in the doorway.

"Lou let me in," Carey said offhandedly waving her hand towards the kitchen. "What happened?"

Amy realized that she hadn't told Carey about the ride. As her grandpa retreated to the kitchen with the first aid kit, Amy (with Ty's help) explained the events that led up to Ty being in the wheelchair. After the account, Amy found herself more composed though, she thought that would probably be partly due to the fact that Ty's hand was now covering her own, in addition to the hand that was still on her back.

"I guess I'm coming at a bad time…" Carey's voice trailed wistfully.

"Oh, no!" Amy said quickly, "Now's just as good a time as any."

"Are you sure?" Carey didn't look convinced; "You seem to have a lot on the go right now."

"We'll manage," Ty said warmly as his hand squeezed Amy's lightly.

"He's completely different," Carey said appreciatively, then added; "Well, different from when you brought him to Ten Beeches."

&

Amy and Carey stood on either side of Ty, outside Mercury's stall and watched as the horse affectionately pulled at the collar of Ty's shirt with his lips.

Ty explained Jack's theory on the gelding's behavior to Carey while she gently rubbed Mercury's ears.

"That makes sense," Carey mused thoughtfully, "He seems really attached to you, I'll bet you can't wait to get riding again."

"You can say that again," Ty said, reaching out and playing with the Mercury's lips, the horse playfully lipped Ty's fingers.

Amy and Ty introduced Carey to the other horses and showed her the collection of Bach flower remedies, aromatherapy essential oils and stacks of notebooks brimming with alternative methods that Amy's mother had either written, or accumulated.

"There's Honeysuckle for getting over the past and Pine for guilt in Mercury's water bucket right now," my explained, handing the small brown vial with the mall peeling label _Pine_ on it. "Obviously they haven't started working yet if Mercury's still that attached to Ty," Amy added the last part with a small smirk in Ty's direction.

Ty reached out and playfully pushed Amy.

Carey looked thoughtfully at the bottle in her hand and then put it back on its shelf. She stood a moment looking up at the essential oils before her stomach growled very audibly.

"What's for supper?" She asked.

As Amy led the way back to the house she reflected on the older girl walking between her and Ty who was chatting animatedly and easily with the latter. She was such an open-minded and charismatic person, that's what Amy liked about her; she was so easy to get along with.

&

After supper Carey took the cordless phone outside to call her mom while Amy washed the dishes. Ty was drying them.

"How's your wrist?" Amy asked, trying to keep her voice as casual as possible. She could hear Carey's muffled voice carry from the porch.

"A bit stiff," Ty admitted, twisting it slightly. "But it's getting better now."

"I saw you standing," Amy said in a small voice.

"If you can call it that," Ty muttered after a small humorless chuckle. He took a plate from Amy and began drying it, keeping his eyes on his work.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Amy said softly with a small frown. She touched Ty's shoulder briefly before thrusting her hands back into the soapy water, scrubbing the inside of a cup.

They worked in silence for a minute, the sound of the television in the adjacent room drifting in, but it was too quiet to be understood.

"So," Ty paused, taking another plate. He raised his eyes momentarily. "What _did_ you think of my standing?"

Amy paused for a minute, her hands stationary in the water before she spoke. "I wish you would let me help you," She said carefully. She noted that Ty's face fell slightly. "I don't know what kind of help I could offer," She continued. "But I really would like to be there for you, to support you."

Ty was silent as they finished the dishes. Amy put the plates and cups away in the cupboards while Ty moved to the table and watched Amy's movements.

"It's hard," He spoke finally. His voice caused Amy to stop her actions and – after quietly closing the cupboard door – turn to face Ty. "Not being able to do things. I know I couldn't last year, but this isn't the same."

Amy moved to the table and sat in the chair beside Ty.

"It seems almost insignificant compared to last year," Ty continued. "But I wasn't in the chair for as long last year and I just feel like after doing this once, I should be getting better faster, instead I'm stuck in this chair for more than double the time I was last time."

Amy listened as he ended on a frustrated note. She reached out and took one of his hands in both of her own. "You're _going_ to get through this," She firmly reassured, lightly tracing her thumbs over his hand. "When you're recovered this'll all be forgotten. You just have to wait it out."

Ty fell silent again and Amy waited, knowing that he was searching for words to express what he wanted to say.

Carey reentered the house, put the phone on the table and yawned with a stretch. By the look in her eyes, she had without a doubt realized the situation she'd walked in on.

"Well Amy, I'm sure you're going to be putting me to work mucking out stalls tomorrow, so I think I'm going to head up to sleep," Carey said and after smiling briefly to Ty she went to the stairs, poking her head into the living room to say good night to Jack and Lou.

"I guess I should go to sleep too," Amy said, moving to rise but Ty held her hand fast so she sank back to her chair.

His eyes bore into hers intensely. "I'd really like your help, more than you know."

"Of course," Amy said, shocked to find that she heard doubt in Ty's tone. She leaned towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest. "Of course," She repeated, pressing a kiss to his collarbone as he gingerly held the back of her neck.


	10. Chapter 10

* * *

"I can't believe we got that much work done already!" Joni remarked enthusiastically, pushing the wheelbarrow back from the much heap. "That's it Ty, you're fired. Carey, you can _never_ leave!" 

Amy, Carey and Ty were standing outside the front stable block. With Amy, Joni and Carey mucking out the stalls and Ty preparing and distributing the feeds, they had finished the regular chores in record time. Carey had cleaned the stalls at twice the speed of the other girls, working quickly and efficiently.

Joni walked too close by Ty and he stuck his foot out, jarring the wheel off course and causing the empty wheelbarrow to tip onto its side.

"Hey!" Joni exclaimed, throwing a mock scowl Ty's direction. He laughed warmly at her; no hard feelings on either side.

"Settle down children," Carey laughed. "What are we doing today?" She asked, turning to Amy.

Amy looked up at the clear blue sky and breathed in the crisp air tinged with the remnants of the previous night's slight chill.

"How 'bout a trail ride?" Amy asked, though she knew she didn't have to; Carey's eyes lit up as soon as Amy had said the word 'trail'.

"Would you mind riding Jasper?" Amy asked, referring to the quarter horse who had been kicked one too many times on a trail rides by other horses and had become erratic and unpredictable whenever ridden around other horses. Fortunately, after being around some of the milder Heartland residences, he had settled down and begun to enjoy their company. He had been unhappy still, when around the more unstable or high-strung horses until Joni had suggested in accompaniment to the Heather and White Chestnut Bach Flower Remedies, that he take up residence with Amy's own little filly, Spindleberry. As Joni had hoped, the yearling's spunk had a positive effect on Jasper, making the much larger horse more enthusiastic.

"Amy, are you going to be riding Lightening?" Ty asked in a serious tone, referring to Black Lightening. He had yet to be taken onto a trail ride and Amy could think of no better time.

"It'll be fine," Amy soothed, understanding Ty's concern. They would normally take a horse with something as potentially dangerous as a bucking or rearing problem out for the first time together, both familiar with the animal's mind and actions.

"Be careful," He warned, his eyes boring into hers'.

Amy noted that there was probably an underlying meaning behind his words.

&

As Amy had hoped, the ride was smooth for both horses; Jasper not only accepted, but seemed to enjoy having Lightening as company, the horse occasionally snorting at the other. Lightening did not show any sign of retaliation and acted in a very proper fashion, for this Amy was quite relieved, she had certainly not wanted to deal with a bucking horse.

Carey was amazing company. It was good for Amy to hear of the business program the other girl was entering into in college. She was planning on opening a small business though she hadn't decided yet (much to the chagrin of her parents), but she was sure she would decide eventually.

"Hey Aim…" Carey paused as they entered a wide part of the trail where they could trot beside each other.

"Yes…?" Amy prompted.

"Well, I know this really isn't any of my business, but I was just wondering which oils you were using on Ty?" Carey asked this with genuine curiosity in her expression and voice.

"What d'you mean?" Amy looked over, tilting her head in confusion.

"I mean which aromatherapy oils are you using to help speed up his recovery?" Now was Carey's turn to prompt.

Amy, at a loss for words was silent, her mind reeling.

"I'm sorry," Carey said quietly. "That's probably priva–"

Amy shook her head. "I didn't even think of that!" She exclaimed. "I can't believe we never thought of that!"

"I was wondering why you didn't mention it, I just figured it was a private thing that you didn't want to talk about…" Carey trailed. She then looked up brightly. "Well I think you two should give it a try; it works so well on the horses, I don't see why it can't work on people."

"I can't believe we never thought of that," Amy repeated in shock.

As they continued down the trail, Amy and Carey discussed the specifics of Ty's injury and as Carey pointed out different things that should be considered Amy recited off-hand some of the essential oils they had in the cupboard that would be able to help.

The trail turned off to Heartland and Amy urged Lightening into a lope, challenging Carey to race back. The older girl and quarter horse were left in Amy's dust. Amy's mind however was not on the race, but was churning over the fact that it had been almost two weeks since the accident and she hadn't even considered using the same method she used every day at Heartland on Ty. She hoped that Ty would be up to trying the oil, but laughed out loud at herself, knowing that there was almost no chance that he _wouldn't_ fully embrace the idea.

&

After they had rubbed down, groomed and turned out their horses, Amy left Carey watching Joni join-up with one of the horses in the lower ring and headed to the feed room.

"How was your ride?" Ty asked. He was sitting on a sack of grain and reading one of the notebooks on Bach Flower Remedies.

"Enlightening," Amy said distractedly, going to the notebooks and pulling out a particularly tattered one. She began flicking through it and running her fingers down specific pages.

"Amy, what's on your mind?" Ty asked, humor in his voice.

"Why, what do you mean?" She asked, pulling down another book and looking in it, her thoughts still racing.

"Your minds on different planet," Ty mused, a grin evident in his voice.

"Venus I think," Amy stated, pulling three dark glass bottles from the cabinet of essential oils; one green, one brown and one blue.

Taking the small bottles in her hands she finally turned to Ty and sat beside him.

"What's this about?" Ty asked; eyeing the bottles Amy had in her lap.

"Smell this," Amy said. Taking the top off the green bottle, she held it out under Ty's nose, making his eyes widen.

"What are you doing Amy?" Ty asked, smiling. When Amy moved the bottle closer he put his hands up in mock defeat and after wrapping his fingers around hers on the bottle, he brought the bottle to his nose and inhaled.

"Lavender," He stated, wrinkling his nose slightly at the smell, obviously not enjoying the strong floral scent. "Is this some sort of a game?"

Amy closed the green bottle and opened the blue one, repeating the same motions.

"Eucalyptus," Ty said, pushing the bottle away quickly after smelling the pungent oil. "I don't have a cold Amy, what's this about?"

"Last one," Amy mumbled, pushing the brown bottle under Ty's nose.

He smelled it once, thought a moment then inhaled deeper. "Cypress," he stated with a self-satisfied grin. He smelled it again before looking up at Amy with a sheepish grin. "I like this one, what do I win?

"A massage," Amy said, leaning in and kissing his cheek. Pulling back she saw that Ty's playful grin had vanished and was replaced by shock. His mouth was slightly opened in surprise.

"I never thought of that…" His voice trailed and he looked down at Amy in wonder.

"Me neither," She admitted with a small smile. "It was Carey, she reminded me what we do here."

"I can't believe we never thought of that," Ty said quietly.

"I said the exact same thing."

"It works so well on the horses, I'm all for it," Ty said with conviction.

"I'd hoped you would say that," Amy grinned, kissing Ty's cheek again.

"So what's the plan then?" Ty asked, taking the small glass bottle from Amy and turning it over in his hands.

"I was thinking," Amy paused, looking at the bottle in Ty's hands before raising her eyes to meet his. "After picking a main oil to start with, Cypress apparently, we can see if it helps and go from there."

"What made you pick Lavender, Eucalyptus and Cypress?" Ty asked as Amy got up and put the other two bottles back in the cabinet.

"They all relax muscles, nerves and tension," Amy answered with her back to him, then joined him again on the sack. "I was thinking that I could massage it into your legs at the end of the day, give your muscles a chance to relax after the day, get your blood running again. At night would be best incase there it puts you to sleep."

"I don't know about putting me to sleep…" Ty said in such a low voice that Amy was sure she was not meant to hear it. "I can't wait," Ty added with a wicked smile.

Amy pushed his knee playfully.


	11. Chapter 11

* * *

"What time were you going to be leaving at?" Amy asked as she stood off to the side watching Carey load Juniper into the Heartland trailer. 

Since Amy had begun to work with Juniper she had been reminded of the very first horse that she had successfully treated after her mom had passed away. A famous show jumper, Nick Halliwell's up-and-coming prize gelding had had the same dislike for trailers as Juniper. Amy had implemented the same methods with Juniper as she had used on Star, and was achieving the same results. Juniper was now comfortable with Amy, Joni and Lou loading him into the trailer so Amy enlisted Carey to load Juniper and then they would take a small drive so Juniper could get the feel for and relax in the trailer while it was moving,

"I need to get going pretty early so I don't get home too late," Carey's voice drifted from the interior of the trailer. She emerged with the lead rope and together she and Amy lifted the ramp, bolting it into place.

Amy hopped behind the pickup's wheel and started the ignition as Carey got into the passenger side.

"So what did Ty think… about the massage idea?" Carey asked hesitantly as they slowly rolled down the drive and onto the road.

"He's completely fine with it," Amy said confidently. "I knew he would be."

"You two have such an amazing connection," Carey remarked. "Its kind of creepy."

Amy looked over to see that Carey was sticking her tongue out between her teeth, letting Amy know she was joking.

"Seriously though," Carey said after she and Amy shared a short laugh. "There's something real special there."

"I know," Amy grinned happily.

They fell silent for a few minutes, but Amy noted from the corner of her eye she saw Carey's mouth steadily turning up in a smile. "What?"

"Massage, huh?" Carey said; turning quickly enough to catch Amy's innocently questioning expression turn into a shocked and mildly intrigued one. "Amy!?" Carey said loudly, feigning shock.

"Carey!" Amy didn't need to act embarrassed.

Carey chuckled to herself as Amy pursed her lips then attempted to change the topic.

"Juniper's been pretty good back there, don't you think?" Amy asked.

"So when are you going to start these _massages_?" Carey completely ignored Amy's question.

"I don't think I've heard such a quiet horse in a while," Amy continued, her face growing red under Carey's constant watch.

"Well I guess you'd probably wait 'til I leave… so I'll bet you can't wait for me to go!" Carey's voice – Amy noted – screamed of provocation, but Amy refused to rise to the bait.

"I think he might almost be ready to go back home. Just another week and I think he'll be set –"

"I guess you would want to wait until both your sister and your grandpa were out of the house, eh?" Carey continued conversationally. "Well I would, man… would that ever get awkward if they were arou–"

"Carey!" Amy exclaimed, pulling the truck to a stop at a gas station. Her eyes were wide and her face was flushed. Amy jumped out and grabbed the fuel nozzle, still blushing hard she started filling up the truck.

"What?" Carey jested, rounding the trailer, looking in on Juniper as she passed a window. "I'm just saying…"

A silence; humorous for Carey, embarrassing for Amy, fell over them as the gas tank filled.

"Its just a massage," Amy said firmly as the nozzle clicked off and she replaced it and the gas cap.

Amy went into the small convenience store to pay while Carey sat in the truck and waited. Catching a glimpse of herself in one of the circular convex security mirrors as she neared the counter, Amy noticed that her face looked like it was on fire. Taking deep breaths as she handed over Heartland's credit card, Amy made a conscious effort to calm her self. _She's just bugging me_. She thought to herself. _She doesn't actually mean what she's saying_.

Climbing back behind the wheel Amy noted that Carey's face was more somber.

"I'm sorry if I took that too far Aim," She started, but Amy pushed her shoulder and threw her a grin.

"It's alright, I guess I'm just a prude," Amy shook her head as they headed towards Heartland.

"I really am sorry I made you uncomfortable," Carey said, though Amy could see from the distant shimmer in her always laughing eyes that she wasn't too sorry.

&

Amy woke the next morning tired and with a pain in her side. She knew that the pain could only be partially attributed to sleeping on the mattress on the floor, the main source being the same cause of her exhaustion. She and Carey had stayed up much later than either had intended talking about _girlie things_, as Carey dubbed it.

Amy had been amazed by the conversation; topics she and Soraya had never discussed, but Carey and Amy talked late with ease and animation. Carey made too many jokes and had more than enough funny stories that Amy got a stitch in her side trying to suppress her laughter.

Rolling over with a pain-induced groan, Amy turned off her blaring alarm and grabbed the sweater from the back of her desk chair.

"I think we really should have stopped talking when Lou told us to shut up," Carey laughed, rolling over and promptly falling off the bed into a sitting position on the floor between the bed and Amy's impromptu bed. Amy laughed at Carey as the older girl seemed suddenly confused to how she had arrived on the floor.

Amy and Carey descended the stairs to the main floor as quietly as they could, which is to say; loud enough to wake Lou who stuck her head out her own bedroom door and scowled at her sister. Carey had to stifle her laugh with her pillow that she was returning to her car.

"You're sticking around for breakfast, right?" Amy asked, carrying Carey's duffle bag as the two went to deposit it in her car before they went to start the morning chores.

"I think I can stay, Jack is an amazing cook," Carey answer appreciatively.

Amy and Carey continued their chatter from the previous night as they made the feeds. They were just going to go distribute them when Ty wheeled himself into the feed room.

"Morning," He said, grabbing a pile of feeds and stacking them on his lap.

"Ty," Amy said in shock, consulting her watch. "Its only six-thirty, you still have half an hour."

"I know," Ty moved towards the door and turned back to the two girls with feigned scorn. "A couple of elephants woke me up this morning at some insane hour," He paused, his eyes shooting to Amy's face, a small grin on his lips. "But not as insane as the hour they kept me up with nonstop talking."

Amy blushed and Carey laughed at Amy's sudden distress. Ty left and Amy turned to Carey quickly.

"Do you think he heard us?" She asked quickly in a whisper, knowing her voice might carry out to Ty in the stalls.

"I doubt it, he probably just heard our voices," Carey answered honestly. "Don't worry about it, I think he would find it funny."

"I'd find it embarrassing," Amy mumbled, picking up a handful of full hey nets while reflecting on the subject of their banter and hoping that Ty hadn't heard a single word. A small smile rose to Amy's lips and a blush to her cheeks, realizing that it wouldn't be all bad if he had heard.

"I saw that," Carey accused, following Amy out of Sugarfoot's stall.

Amy's blush deepened and Carey's laugh rose.

&

"It must have been nice to have an older girl to talk to for a change," Ty observed as he stood with Amy at the top of the drive. Carey's car was disappearing down the dirt driveway and Amy was still waving.

"I have Lou," Amy said defensively for her sister.

"That's different," Ty reminded.

"Yeah, it was nice," Amy agreed. "There are a lot of things that I've never talked about with Soraya or Lou before."

"Do you want to talk to me about them?" Ty asked.

Amy looked down at him with her eyes wide, her hand dropped to her side. She saw a glimmer in Ty's eyes and pushed his shoulder slightly as he laughed at her.

"Do you have any idea how many times I've been laughed at this weekend?" Amy asked as they turned towards front barn.

"I'm going to wager I wasn't the first."

"You might win that bet, " Amy nodded.

Amy retrieved Winter, the Fleabitten grey Arabian from the second stall and lead the tall gelding out to one of the turnout paddocks. Ty was still following her but Amy didn't question him.

After unclipping Winter's lead rope and closing the gate, Amy turned to see Ty looking up at her with a careful expression.

"What's the matter Ty?" She asked, turning for the barn once more.

Ty stayed by her side and after a moment, spoke in a low voice, his eyes darting to the house as they walked by it. "Do you think the massage is such a good idea?"

"What are you talking about?" Amy demanded, taken aback by his sudden aversion to what she thought was brilliant.

"I heard Lou and Jack talking about us this morning," Ty said quickly as they entered the barn. Amy led the way to the feed room. "Well, it was more Lou talking and Jack listening."

"What did she say?" Amy asked. She leaned against the bench and turned to Ty, her arms crossed as her mind spun. _Had Lou heard us last night?_

"Nothing bad, she's only concerned over how close we are," Ty replied.

"How close we are is none of her concern," Amy snapped. She quickly checked herself and smiled meekly at Ty.

"I mean how close our living quarters are," Ty grinned as Amy's mouth formed a small 'o'.

"Well that's just something she's going to have to deal with for a while," Amy said simply, shaking her head. She knelt on the floor in front of Ty and took one of his hands in both of hers.

"I hope so," Ty sighed. "I don't really have anywhere else to –"

"Amy! Phone!" Lou's voice drifted from the house, cutting Ty off.

Amy cocked her head at Ty, ignoring her sister.

"What do you mean you don't 'have anywhere else to'… to go?" Amy's eyes widened.

"You should go get that, Winter's owners are suppose to be coming to get him this morning," Ty said gently.

"But –"

"I'll explain later," Ty said, kissing the knuckles on one of Amy's hands. "Promise,"


	12. Chapter 12

* * *

Amy didn't get a chance to talk to Ty at all that day. 

After she'd made pick-up arrangements with Winter's owners, she called to make drop-off arrangements for a new arrival. A three year-old appaloosa Bengie was going to be staying in Winter's old stall while Amy, Joni and Ty worked to gentle the horse and train him to be ridden. Amy cleaned out the stall and laid out fresh bedding. One thing led to another and Joni was saying good-bye for the night. Amy hadn't seen Ty since morning.

After checking in on the horses in the front block, Amy turned towards Mercury's stall in the back barn. As she neared the half door, she saw Ty's broad back as he stood beside the horse, his fingers working in light circles over Mercury's shoulder.

Amy approached the door slowly and leaned over, watching Ty work. Mercury was so relaxed that he only flicked his ear in her direction momentarily, not even bothering to raise his drooped head. The small reaction did not go unnoticed by Ty who looked over at Amy. A smile spread across his mouth and reached up to his eyes, an expression reflected on Amy's face.

"Hey," Amy breathed, letting herself into the stall and moving to stand beside Ty.

"Hey," Ty said in a low voice. With a final pat, he took his hands off Mercury who breathed out hard through his nose and turned his head to nuzzle Ty's pants pocket. Ty chuckled. "You'd think a massage would be enough for him," He reached into his pocket and withdrew a mint, holding it out for Mercury to lip off his open palm.

"Speaking of massages…"Amy trailed off and reached up to place both her hands on Ty's bicep, looking up at him from under her eyelashes. "Do you want some supper?"

Ty grinned and narrowed his eyes at her playfully.

"I think that the best place for this would be my room," Ty said logically as they left the feed room with the bottle of diluted cypress oil. "We do massages on the horses in their stalls," He paused to look up at Amy with a grin. "That's my stall."

Amy laughed at this as she walked beside Ty on their way out of the stable and turned off the lights for the night. She hardly had to slow her pace now as Ty was able to move faster.

"Amy," Lou called from beside Scott's jeep. "I'm going out and won't be in 'til late. Grandpa's taken Nancy out as well, there's stew on the stove for you two!" Lou waved enthusiastically and climbed in the vehicle.

"She's excited," Amy observed, laughing at her sister.

"Well at least this will be least awkward," Ty said in a low voice.

"Were you talking to Carey?" Amy asked, raising her hand as the Jeep moved down the drive.

"What are you talking about?" Ty asked, following Amy into the kitchen.

"Never mind…" Amy trailed off as she filled two bowls of her grandpa's stew and followed Ty to the couch in the living room.

They ate in silence, watching a mindless sitcom. When they'd finished Amy washed their dishes and returned from the kitchen with the small glass bottle in hand.

"Ready?" Ty asked, moving to his wheel chair from the couch.

"Are you?" Amy asked. She was met with wide eyes and a sudden grin. "I'll meet you there," Amy added as she headed up the stairs for her room. Ty went into his.

Amy darted up the stairs to her room and quickly changed into an old t-shirt and a pair of pajama shorts. She went back down the stairs and found that Ty had done similar; he was lying in the middle of the double bed, wearing only his boxer shorts staring up at the ceiling.

Amy entered the room silently and saw that his eyes were closed so she quietly pushed the door closed, moved to his bed and slowly eased herself onto it. The mattress shift caused Ty's eyes to open. He moved to sit up but Amy placed a hand on his shoulder to still him.

"Sh…" Her hush trailed as her eyes fell on his torso. She hadn't seen his bare chest since it had been smeared with dark red blood. With Ty's eyes on her, Amy reached out and touched his chest with the tips of her fingers. Eleven small pink scars were spread out over his torso between his waist strap and collarbone. Amy gently circled each individual scar with the tip of her index finger; each one was just around the same size as her fingernail.

Looking up into Ty's face, Amy saw that his eyes were on her fingers. After noting that they had stopped moving his eyes rose to meet hers and he offered her a sad smile.

"Well…" Amy started, her throat had dried and the word was almost inaudible. She tried again. "I should start."

"You're the boss," Ty whispered. "What do you want me to do?"

"Absolutely nothing," Amy answered, picking the vial off the bed. "Only roll over so I can work."

Ty complied and turned onto his stomach. Amy's breath caught in her throat when she saw four jagged scars, far less neat than the ones on his front, spaced sporadically on his back. She reached out and ran her fingers over the slightly uneven surface of the scars. One was on his lower back, just to the left of his spine, two were slightly higher on his mid back both to the right of his spine and the fourth was far to the left, almost on his side, only just higher than the group of two.

"Not very nice, is it?" He asked, turning his head so his cheek was against the mattress and he was looking directly at Amy's knee.

Amy didn't answer but instead bent her head and pressed a kiss to each scar and then moved up to his face and kissed his lips. She felt his tongue on her lip but denied him access by pulling away and chastely kissing him just beside his mouth.

After shaking the bottle to insure that the oils were thoroughly mixed, Amy opened it and poured a small pea-sized amount onto her palm and rubbed her fingers together, coating them with the earthy scented oil. She took more of the oil and readjusted herself on the bed so she was kneeling beside Ty's knees. She quickly became consumed in her work, forgetting everything; she focused completely on her fingers, Ty's calves and eventually the backs of his lower thighs. She worked in slow small circles, just as she would with the horses, moving the muscles slightly. She paused a moment when she reached the bottom of his boxer shorts, but without missing a beat; she took more oil and skipped over the dark blue material, her fingers finding the first exposed skin of his lower back, just above his waistband.

She heard him gasp and she looked up to his face as he twisted slightly to look at her.

"What are you doing?" He asked; his voice showed neither objection nor curiosity, it was almost a statement rather than a question.

"Didn't I mention full body massage?" Amy asked simply, continuing with the small circles. She moved his taught skin over the muscles of his back as her fingers traveled up to his shoulders. She pressed firmer circles over his upper back and shoulder blades as she found tension in these muscles. Moving down his arms one at a time, she mentally noted that the muscles in his shoulders as well as his arms were more defined, probably owing to the use of the wheelchair. As she felt the tension disappear from under her fingers she felt Ty's back rise then fall in a deep sigh. She finished by bending forward and pressing a kiss to the back of his neck. He shivered and she smiled.

"Roll over," Amy commanded.

"But the blanket –" Ty began to protest.

"That's what the laundry is for," Amy whispered in his ear.

He complied. After he'd rolled to face her, Amy captured Ty's mouth with her own but again, when she felt his tongue request entry to her mouth she denied it and pulled back, staying just an inch from his face, looking into his dark green eyes as they slowly opened. Amy saw a new light in Ty's eyes, an unfamiliar spark that caused her to cock her head.

"Aims…" When Ty spoke, his voice was slightly rough. His hands reached up and found her lower back. Slowly, with his expression cautious, Ty's fingers inched their way under the back of her shirt until his palms were flat against the small of her back. He pulled her down until she was lying on top of him.

"Amy," He whispered, looking down at her hands, which she was carefully keeping off him.

"My hands are all oily," Amy explained.

"_I'm_ all oily," Ty said with a grin. He pulled one hand from her back, took one of her hands and placed her palm on the side of his face.

Immediately Ty's hand was behind her neck and he was pulling her face down before he captured her lips with his own, this time she opened her mouth a crack, an invitation Ty immediately seized. His tongue caressed hers with cautiously gentle motions while his lips moved smoothly with hers; causing her to arch herself towards him. A small moan escaped Ty's lips and his hands sought her back again. He kneaded slow, firm circles on her lower back.

Amy pulled back from the kiss.

"Amy…" Ty breathed, his eyes opening slowly.

Amy bent her head and kissed his lips quickly before pulling back to whisper into his ear, "Let the oil work." She rolled off him, which drew a frustrated groan from deep in his chest. Amy lay on her side facing him and Ty rolled over to face her.

"The oil _is_ working," Ty said after drawing a slow shuddered breath. Amy laughed softly at him.

"Not that kind of work," She chided.

Ty closed his eyes, smiled and nodded. He wrapped one arm around Amy's shoulders, the other around her waist and pulled her towards his warm embrace. Amy put her hands on his chest stopping him causing his eyes to flash open and dart to her face.

"What –"

"I have to check the horses first," Amy answered, biting her lower lip to keep from laughing at the momentary fear she had seen in Ty's eyes.

Standing, Amy picked up the fleece throw that was folded at the foot of the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders, grabbing the extra material and holding it so the bottom was mid calf to keep it from dragging. She walked slowly to the door, turning to face Ty as she stepped out of the room. He was lying on his side; one hand covering his eyes, the other hand on the bed where just seconds previous her back had been. She judged based on the rise and fall of his shoulders that his breathing was ragged and again she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

Amy stepped into a tall pair of rubber boots and rushed out to the front stable. She looked in on each stall, relieved to see drooped heads and to hear deep breathing. She entered the back barn with more caution knowing that Annie, the still partially wild Brumby was slightly skittish when suddenly approached. Just after Amy had opened the door Annie who thrust her head over the stall's half door greeted her with a snort before she returned to the back of her stall. Amy looked in on the others, most of who had been woken by the sudden noise and saw when she reached the last stall that Annie was munching on her hay net.

"You silly girl," Amy said in a low voice. She pulled the blanket tighter around herself against the night's slight chill and turned towards the house.

"They're fine," Amy announced when she reentered Ty's room. He had turned off the main light and lay with his head propped on the pillow, bathed in the warm yellow light of the lamp on the bedside table. Amy rejoined Ty on the bed, curling up beside him as he lay looking at his hands.

"Look at this," He said, holding his hands out.

Amy looked down, confused at seeing nothing out of the ordinary. She then noticed what Ty had meant; his hands were trembling.

"You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" He asked, his tone completely serious. He wrapped his arms around Amy and tucked her head under his chin after pressing a kiss into her hair.

"You did that to yourself," Amy stated, rolling over in Ty's arms and turning the light off. Ty's hands wrapped around Amy's waist and he pulled her back against his chest, spooning up against her body. She melted to his touch as he pressed his body flush against hers, his hands snaking to her front; he pressed his palms flat against her stomach.

"Ty," Amy gasped as she felt his nose at the nape of her neck. He pressed several light kissed to the back of her neck before resting his forehead against the back of her head and his nose against her neck, his breath sweeping softly down the back of her neck and under her shirt collar.

Ty's scent surrounding her and the feel of his fingers pressing soft but firm circles around her belly button were the last things Amy was aware of before she drifted to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

* * *

Something woke Amy with a start but she kept her eyes closed trying to decide what had roused her. Sun wasn't hitting her eyelids, so she knew she hadn't overslept. Her alarm wasn't blaring so she knew it wasn't six. She took a deep breath and stretched her legs. 

The she felt it, the source of her awakening.

Something was resting on her waist and hanging down to her to her stomach and it ended in a hard fist clasped around on the front of her t-shirt.

Amy opened her eyes and with the dim light provided by the moon high outside the window, she looked down and saw Ty's hand clutching her shirt where his hand had been massaging as she'd fallen asleep. Reaching down, Amy gently put her hand over Ty's. At his sudden sharp intake of breath, she realized that she had woken him. Rolling over in his arms, Amy turned until she was facing him. His eyes were wide, his face pale and a light sheen of sweat covered him.

"Ty," Amy gasped, reaching down quickly she pulled the quilt up and wrapped around them both.

She reached up and ran her fingers through Ty's slightly damp hair as he swallowed hard numerous times.

"Ty," Amy whispered, smoothing her hand on the side of his heated face. He immediately turned towards her touch. "Ty, what's wrong?"

Amy felt his hand tighten around a handful of the back of her shirt.

"Was it the oil?" Amy asked, now pressing both her cool hands against Ty's warm face.

He shook his head with his eyes still wide.

"Ty…" Amy breathed, reaching out and wrapping her arms around him. Ty buried his face in her shoulder and inhaled deeply. "Are you sick?" Amy murmured into his hair as she stroked his warm back.

He shook his head.

Amy held onto him; waiting for his body to relaxed, but it didn't.

"Ty –"

""Do you love me?" Ty asked suddenly, cutting Amy off.

Amy pulled back in shock, looking into Ty's face with concern, though she was relieved to see that the colour had returned to his cheeks. His expression was completely serious. "Amy?" He prompted, looking directly into her eyes.

"Of course I do," Amy answered in a whisper, reaching out to caress Ty's jaw. "I love you Ty."

A sigh escaped Ty's mouth and he leaned forward to take Amy into his arms.

"What, that's it?" Amy asked, resting her cheek against Ty's neck. Though her mind was alert, her eyes were drooping.

"Mmhm," Amy could feel Ty's throat vibrate against her ear. She pressed a kiss to his Adam's apple before burying her nose where his neck and shoulder met. She heard him whisper repetitively to her as he smoothed her hair, "I love you Amy."

&

When Amy woke from her uneasy sleep she knew exactly where she was and immediately looked up at Ty from where her head rested on his shoulder. She was met with a pair of deep green eyes staring unblinkingly at her.

Amy reached up and pushed back a lock of hair that lay across his forehead.

"Morning," Ty said in a hoarse voice.

"That's it?" Amy asked, repeating the question she'd posed during the night.

"What's it?" Ty asked, looking down and taking Amy's hand in his own, stroking the back of it with his thumb.

"What was that… last night?" Amy asked, catching Ty when his eyes shifted slightly. "Ty?"

Ty looked up from their hands with an embarrassed smirk, "I had a bad dream."

Amy thought a moment, but remained silent while she waited for Ty to continue. He didn't.

"What was it about?" Amy prompted, looking groggily up at Ty, resting her head on his pillow and her chin on his shoulder.

Ty hesitated for a moment before stretching his arm out and wrapping around Amy's shoulders, pulling her close. "You were in it."

Amy allowed him to fall silent as she thought about what had happened when she had woken in the night.

"What did I do Ty?" She asked, remembering Ty's distress.

"Nothing," Ty said quickly, looking up towards the ceiling.

"Ty," Amy scolded, pausing to reach over and pull his chin lightly, forcing him to look at her. "Give me a little more credit. What did I do?"

Ty closed his eyes briefly and with a small sigh he looked into her eyes. "You left,"

"I left?" Amy asked. Moving closer to him, she felt his arm tighten around her shoulders.

"Heartland, me, you just left," Ty reached his other arm out and wrapped it around Amy's waist, pulling her body flush against his.

"Ty, you know that's completely insane," Amy whispered, pressing her forehead against Ty's. "I would never leave Heartland. I _could_ never leave you."

"I know," Ty breathed, pressing his fingertips lightly into the small of her back.

They lay that way for a moment; Amy making small circles with her fingertips over Ty's cheeks, running her fingers back into his hair before pressing a short kiss to his lips.

"Its after six, isn't it?"

Ty groaned and squeezed her in a quick hug. "Unfortunately," He sighed, releasing Amy.

Amy rolled on top of Ty, stretching her legs over his, smiling at the shocked expression on his face. "Silly Ty," She breathed; shaking her head, her nose brushing his. "You're stuck with me."

&

_Lou's shoes were at the door and grandpa's car was in the drive. _Amy reflected, moving soiled hay into the wheelbarrow.

_They might not know._ She thought, brushing away a loose strand of hair with the back of her hand before picking up the handles and pushing the wheelbarrow in the direction of the muckheap.

"_I heard Lou and Jack talking about us," _She remembered Ty saying yesterday. _"Well, it was more Lou talking and Jack listening."_

"Perfect," Amy muttered, dumping the wheelbarrow and turning back to the barn. _I hope they didn't see_ –

"Amy, breakfast, hurry up or you're going to miss the bus!" Lou shouted from the kitchen door.

Amy shook her head slightly. _She doesn't know._ She mentally reassured herself as she turned her feet towards the house.

"What did you two do last night?" Lou asked as Amy entered the kitchen, quickly kicked off her boots and headed towards a shower.

"TV, stew," She paused to look at her grandpa who was washing a muffin tin. "Really good stew by the way grandpa." Amy turned towards the stairs.

"Is that all?" Lou asked.

_Damn it._ Amy paused, considering the alternative but decided that the truth would be the best.

"I gave Ty a massage," She answered simply.

Jack paused and turned slightly towards Amy, his hands still in the soapy water.

"Aromatherapy works so well on the horses, we're hoping it will help Ty as well," She explained quickly, her face reddening slightly.

The kitchen was silent for a moment before Jack clunked a dirty mug into the water and shrugged his shoulders, "Makes sense."

Amy dashed to her room, sighing in relief as she leaned against her closed bedroom door. She looked over at her alarm, cursed under her breath and ran for a quick shower.

&

"I'm just not sure she's being entirely truthful," Amy heard Lou's voice drift to where Amy had paused half way down the stairs, struggling to pull a sweater over her head. Amy straightened her top and moved quietly until she was standing outside the kitchen.

"Nothing happened," Jack said slowly. "She would have said something."

"You don't know that!" Lou said. Amy heard Lou sit, placing something on the kitchen table.

"Amy's not like that Lou," Jack said sternly. "She's a very mature young woman." Amy smiled at her grandpa's confidence in her. She heard him sit at the table as well.

"Exactly," Lou said quickly. "And what about Ty? He –"

"You haven't known Ty as long as I have," Jack cut her off with a defensive tone. "He's a good man."

"But –" Lou started.

"No 'but's," Jack said firmly. "Ty wouldn't. And besides, even if they had, he would have said something or you would have been able to tell."

Lou sighed.

"If you want to talk anymore on this subject," Jack said quickly before Lou could speak. "It's going to have to be with Amy and Ty."

Amy heard Lou sigh again and decided to make her entrance.

Jack was sitting back in his chair, his hands cupping a mug of steaming coffee. Lou sat examining the half full bottle of diluted cypress oil. Amy poured herself a cup of coffee and grabbed a fresh muffin before sitting across from her sister who wore a guilty blush.

"Where'd you get that?" Amy demanded, gesturing slightly with her chin towards the bottle her sister was turning over in her hands.

"Ty forgot it on the table when he left earlier," Lou said.

"So?" Amy cocked her head to the side, waiting for her sister to continue.

"Amy…" Lou started in a small voice lacking all the conviction she normally spoke in. Amy glared at her sister but looked abruptly away as Ty entered from outside. Judging by the smile he wore, she knew he hadn't heard the conversation.

"What's going on?" Ty questioned, taking in Lou's now stiff posture and Amy's disgruntled expression. He wheeled himself between Amy and Jack and looked expectantly at Lou. Amy watched as his eyes fell on the bottle in her hands. He caught himself but not before Amy noticed his expression flicker momentarily.

"I heard what you said," Amy said bitterly.

"Amy, I –" Lou started.

"What did she say?" Ty asked quickly.

Lou closed her mouth and placed the bottle on the table, folding her hands.

"She thinks we did something last night, don't you Lou?" Amy answered dryly.

"Did_ something_," Ty echoed, looking questioningly at Jack and then somewhat hurt at Lou. He realized immediately what was being asked but unlike Amy was much better at keeping his emotions in check. "Don't you trust us?" He asked calmly, then added more softly: "Don't you trust me?"

"Its not that I don't trust you two," Lou answered quickly, "Its just… I'm…" She paused momentarily and Amy took advantage of the silence.

"I'm going to miss my bus," She said in a low voice. She stood, picked up the remainder of her muffin and after bending to kiss Ty's cheek she left the house.

Walking down the drive she reasoned that it was probably cruel to leave Ty by himself with Lou, but she also knew that nothing bad would be said as long as her grandpa was there. By the time she'd reached the bus stop she felt absolutely miserable. What if Lou decided that she didn't want Ty around as often anymore? Surely grandpa wouldn't make Ty go back home while he was still in the chair.

As the bus came to a stop directly in front of her, Amy paused halfway through chewing on the last mouthful of her muffin.

"_I hope so," Ty sighed. "I don't really have anywhere else to –"_

What had he meant by that?


	14. Chapter 14

* * *

"Maybe he got kicked out," Soraya guessed before taking a bite of her pizza.

Amy shook her head pensively, pushing her salad around her plate. She looked across at her best friend and frowned.

Amy had spent the first half of the day wondering to herself over the meaning of Ty's words. She didn't have any class with Soraya until the afternoon so she had been left to her own assumptions for the morning. Already deciding that Ty had not been kicked out of his home, Amy was at a complete loss.

"Well how do you know he wasn't?" Soraya demanded, raising her eyes as she stared over her soft drink.

"Its just not possible," Amy shook her head again. "That, he would have mentioned."

"Well what else could he have meant?" Soraya asked with an exasperated sigh.

Amy just shook her head and focused on her drink.

"How was the massage?" Soraya asked, changing the subject.

Amy looked up quickly to see that her friend wore a perfectly masked expression. She appeared uninterested, but Amy knew better. "Good," She said simply. Two can play at that game.

"Anything interesting happen?" Soraya's voice was so casual that it was all Amy could do to keep from laughing at her.

"Actually, after we went to sleep Ty had a bad dream. He woke me up so I –"

"That bad huh?" Soraya said, a small giggle escaping her. Amy joined her though her own was a more embarrassed laugh.

"We didn't do anything," Amy said seriously, taking a drink of her water bottle and setting it down with a deliberately finalizing sound.

"He had a bad dream?" Soraya asked.

Amy smiled slightly and remembered just why Soraya was her best friend. She never pushed things.

"He said he had a bad dream – but you know Ty – it's impossible to get _anything_ out of him," Amy rolled her eyes.

"Any theories?" Soraya demanded, not missing a beat.

Amy speared a piece of chicken from her salad and popped it into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "Could have been anything, I guess."

&

Amy's mind was turning over for the rest of the day. She had trouble paying attention in her classes, missed answers when she was called on and received numerous disapproving looks from all her teachers. When the final bell rang she had actually mentally planned her evening and as the bus stopped at Heartland she ran – as she hadn't done in a while – to the house. After changing into her yard clothes and greeting her grandpa who was sitting on the porch fixing a bridle, she hurried to the feed room.

The half full vial of cypress was sitting on the bench when she entered the room. Pushing it out of her way, Amy selected and pulled down a few of the notebooks. She was just flipping through the pages of one when Joni entered the room.

"Hey," Joni said brightly, going to one of the bins and grabbing a handful of horse treats. "Didn't get your fill of books at school?"

"I knew it!" Amy excitedly jabbed her finger at the page in front of her. Joni moved to look over the book.

"Repressed anxiety?" She read in confusion.

"These all say the same thing, cypress brings out repressed anxieties," Amy said, pointing to the different pages.

"Oh… Ty," Joni said with a knowing nod. "He's been a bit moody today," She added at Amy's raised eyebrows.

"Well that one was a dud," Amy observed, emptying the vial's contents and rinsing it.

"Any other ideas?" Joni asked, leaning against the wall, thumbing through the pages of one of the books.

"Well," Amy started to close the books she had been looking at when she paused, her finger falling beside the word _invigorating_ beside cypress's class. She smiled to herself before closing the book. "I was started thinking about things like Bergamot, Neroli or Sandalwood, but those all were because of his nightmare so I guess I'll have to look for physically relaxing oils, not mental ones."

"Hm," Joni looked thoughtfully at the essential oil bottles. "Fennel's a good circulatory system stimulant," She suggested, pulling down an almost black tinted bottle.

"Thanks," Amy grinned, taking the bottle and reaching up for the Basil.

"Well I have a certain spoiled pony waiting for me," Joni patted her pocket, which was hiding the horse treats.

"Would that be Jaz?" Amy teased, knowing how fond Joni was of the old dressage pony who had been a permanent Heartland resident several years ago.

"I'll never tell," Joni replied, raising her chin and giving Amy a mischievous grin before she departed.

Amy picked through one more book and decided to choose only one more, a third oil for Ty to choose from. When she had finally found one that acted as both a muscle relaxant and a circulatory stimulant, she pocketed the bottles and went in search of Ty. She wasn't surprised to find his wheelchair outside Mercury's stall.

Leaning over the half door, Amy saw Ty's head bowed as he worked T-touch over Mercury's neck. His mouth was moving as he kept up a steady stream of low spoken words. Amy admitted herself to the stall and coming up behind him, wrapped her arms around Ty, her hands snaking up to rest on his chest. She buried her nose between his shoulder blades.

"They're picking him up at four-thirty," Ty said, quickly picking up Amy's hand to kiss her the back of it before replacing her palm on his chest and returning his fingers to Mercury's neck.

"Right," Amy nodded. "Where's that leave you?"

"I'm fine," Ty replied in an honest voice. "It's time for him to go home."

Amy nodded again and dropped her hands. Moving beside Ty, she pulled a bottle from her pocket, opened it and held it up.

Ty looked down at her in surprise. "What ab–"

"When I left, Grandpa said he trusts you, didn't he," It wasn't a question.

Ty nodded and Amy gestured to his nose with the bottle.

With a final pat, Ty turned away from Mercury and led Amy to the door before he took the bottle from her and without glancing at the label, smelled it. Without a word or change in expression he handed back the bottle and held his hand out for the second. Amy didn't comment as she complied, recapping the vial and handing him the fennel.

When the third bottle was returned to Amy's pocket she looked expectantly up at Ty. She knew by the exaggerated thoughtful expression he was wearing and the grin he was hardly suppressing, that he was being dramatic.

"Rosemary," He said with finality.

"Rosemary?" Amy echoed.

&

Joni stayed for supper that evening and with Lou out again with Scott, the atmosphere was light. As always, time had taken the edge off the anger Amy felt towards her sister but she decided that it was probably a good thing that Lou wasn't around. _I'll be better tomorrow_.

After the meal Amy cleared away the supper dishes and while she was pulling out desert bowls and a big serving dish full of pudding, she felt her heart plummet as Ty started explaining to Jack in an extremely quite serious tone, Amy's intention to give him a massage that night.

Apparently Joni found her expression comical because she started laughing as Amy passed her a desert bowl. Amy stole a quick glance at Jack who looked at a loss for words but he quickly covered it by reaching for the bowl of pudding and rearranging his expression into a thoughtful one.

"Well thank you Ty, for telling me. That's very mature of you," Jack said, his eyes flicking up to meet Ty's then Amy's. Almost a full minute of silence passed before Jack spoke again, "I didn't really need to know that though."

Amy looked at Joni who was struggling to compose herself and couldn't help it; she burst out laughing and was joined by a relieved Joni. Across the table Ty was wearing a slightly embarrassed smile while Jack continued to eat his pudding.

Ty retreated to his room after the meal while Joni and Amy washed the dishes.

"Ty's not mad is he?" Joni asked cautiously as Jack went to the living room and turned the television on to a football game.

"I don't think he is," Amy answered, shaking her head. "But he has to admit, that was pretty funny."

"Poor Jack!" Joni said though humor was still in her voice. "Like he wants to know what you two are doing!"

Amy laughed with Joni but was relieved that the conversation switched seamlessly to the horses since she couldn't think of anything to say.

Joni left after asking Amy again if Ty was really upset since he hadn't emerged from his room the entire time.

After putting away the dishes by herself, Amy went to Ty's room and knocked timidly on the door. When she got no answer she started to worry that Ty really was upset with her. She opened the door a crack.

"Ty can I come in?" She asked. He saw that he was lying in the middle of the bed as he had been the previous night, clad in only a pair of dark green boxer shorts, apparently staring at the ceiling though his eyes were closed.

"Mmhm," He nodded slightly.

Amy moved slowly towards the bed and paused looking down at Ty. He opened one eye, and after seeing her standing over him, patted the bed beside him with his hand.

"You're not mad right?"

"I'm a bit embarrassed, I'll admit. But not mad," Ty answered, both his eyes closed again.

"You had Joni worried," Amy explained, sitting cross-legged on the bed beside Ty.

"Were you worried?" Ty asked. Though his eyes remained closed, his expression was worried.

"Not at all. You didn't look mad," Amy answered, playing with the vial of diluted rosemary oil in her hands. "What were you doing?"

Ty was quiet for a full minute. "Thinking," Was his simple reply.

"About…?" Amy prompted when it became obvious that he wasn't going to elaborate.

Ty sighed, raised his hand to his face and after rubbing his eyes he opened them and stared at the ceiling. "Jack, Lou and Scott, Heartland, Marion, you, me, us." He said in a rush.

Amy's eyes widened and she looked down to see Ty's eyes had found her face and he was looking anxious as he waited for her response.

"Mom?" She repeated softly then cleared her throat. "Us?"

"Its stu–" Ty started, his hand coming up to cover his eyes again.

"Not if you've been thinking about it for three quarters of an hour," Amy interrupted him, taking his hand and gently lifting it from his face, holding it in her own. "And its probably been bothering you for a lot longer, hasn't it?"

Ty looked up at her, his eyes roaming her face as another long silence fell between them. Finally he squeezed her hand and brought it to his lips.

"You're right," He mumbled against her knuckles. He held her hand, suspended in the air in front of his face. He meticulously inspected her hand. "Its been bugging me since the storm."

_Since the_… she mouthed slowly, but when Ty brought her hand to his mouth again and kissed each knuckle slowly she stopped and looked down at him. He released her hand and she traced her fingertips over the contours of his face carefully until her fingers were running through his hair.

"What if I'd died?"

At Ty's whisper Amy gasped, her fingers trailing back to his lips, her eyes meeting his.

"You would have never known how much –"

"Ty I –" Amy started but Ty cut her off.

"No. Amy you don't know," He shook his head and reached for her hand, once again inspecting it. "I don't tell you half as often as I should. I resolved after I came back last time that I would show you just how much you mean to me and I was going to during the ride but I chickened out," He looked up. "I almost missed my chance."

"Ty what –" Amy started but stopped suddenly when Ty's other hand came up and she saw a small piece of metal between his thumb and index finger.

He sat up slowly, her hand still hostage in his. "You don't have to promise anything right now, just know that I love you this much," He pressed the small ring, still warm from his touch, into the palm of her hand and closed her fingers around it.

Amy looked up from her hand and into Ty's eyes. _Oh_. _My_. _God_.

"Ty did you just…"Amy didn't finish her question but opened her hand and looked at the little ring that lay in her palm. A perfect silvery loop, broken where the two ends held a golden gem. "Its…"

"The style is called 'embracing' because of the way the ends hold the stone," Ty explained, lifting the ring from her hand and slowly sliding it onto her second finger. "It's a bit unconventional, but I thought it was perfect for you. 18 carat white gold, that's a golden sapphire…" He trailed off as he looked up from her hand and realized that Amy was staring at him – not the ring – open-mouthed.

"Amy you're starting to freak me out, say something," Ty said slowly. Raising his hand to her face he cupped her chin and brushed his thumb over her lower lip.

"Ty…" Amy breathed. Leaning towards Ty she wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her to him.

"I know we're so young, but I just…" Ty paused as Amy pulled back. "– really wanted to…" He paused again as Amy shook her head moved close so her forehead was against his.

"You're rambling," She pointed out, pressing a kiss just beside his mouth.

"I am a bit nervous," He admitted, dropping his hands to her lower back.

"Time for a massage," Amy whispered, kissing his lips quickly before she pulled back and picked the oil bottle from where she'd dropped it on the mattress.

"That's a yes, right?" Ty asked, cocking his head to the side.

"You even have to ask?" Amy laughed and threw her arms around him again. A sudden thought struck her and she pulled back again. "Does grandpa know?"

"That thing's been in my pocket since the ride," Ty said with a small embarrassed smile. "I even called Tim to ask his permission."

Amy suddenly remembered something from that morning. "Ty, where are your parents?"

It surprised Amy at how fast his expression fell.

"Ty?"

"I don't know," Ty answered, running his fingers through his hair, a frustrated gesture.

"You said they were visiting family in Utah, right?" Amy remembered from when she first visited Ty in the hospital.

"I called there, apparently Brad had to go to further west for business and Mom and Lee kept with him. They didn't leave a number," Ty answered. Amy could tell by the edge in his voice, he wasn't very happy about this.

"Look on the bright side," Amy said with a grin.

Ty looked up at her, obviously struggling to find something good about being abandoned by his parents.

"The longer they're gone, the longer I get to have you," Amy finished. With the oil bottle she gestured for Ty to lay down. He complied after pressing a kiss to her forehead.


	15. Chapter 15

Warning: This program contains scenes of nudity, sexuality and adult subject matter.Viewer discretion is advised.

* * *

As October progressed, Amy felt like her life had finally resumed a normal rhythm. Lou wasn't upset with her; on the contrary she was interested in the oils that Amy was using to help Ty. She was apparently interested in the human connection that could be made with Heartland's regular practices. There was more than just one kind of oil because, though the rosemary helped for the first week – Ty had noticed a different feeling of relaxation after a session – the effects wore off and they were forced to find a different oil. This had happened again more than once per week, but they continued scouring the books in the feed room for different choices.

Ty returned the wheelchair to the hospital after a doctor's appointment in the second week of the month. Doctor Carson was impressed and intrigued by the alternative methods Amy and Ty had implemented.

"It seems to be working well so if it does work, keep doing it," Doctor Carson said, leaning across his desk slightly, talking to the pair. "Did they ever find the men who were in the bush?"

"They found a burnt out campfire and a bunch of beer cans just off the road," Amy answered, looking at Ty who nodded in confirmation. "That's all they could tell us."

"That's to bad," Doctor Carson looked down at the file on the desk in front of him before flipping it closed and looking back up at the pair expectantly.

"So that's it then?" Ty asked eagerly. Amy knew he had been looking forward to getting the all clear since he'd booked the appointment a half a month previous.

"That's it," The doctor repeated, rising as Amy and Ty stood. "Just take it easy for a little bit, call or come in if you have any concerns." He walked them to the door.

Amy's mind was already back at Heartland as they entered the parking lot and headed in the direction of Ty's truck. She was brought back to earth when she felt Ty take her hand in his, his thumb brushing over her ring. The announcement of Amy and Ty's engagement was overshadowed by the wedding preparations for Scott and Lou's upcoming wedding. Neither Amy nor Ty cared; they agreed – much to Amy's chagrin –nothing would be changing until after Amy graduated in the spring.

Amy smiled up at Ty, his good mood easily infectious.

"I want to do something special tonight," Ty said, squeezing Amy's hand gently before dropping it when they parted ways to get into the truck.

"Isn't a massage enough for you?" Amy feigned hurt as she climbed onto the truck bench.

"Lets go for a trail ride," Ty suggested, turning the key in the ignition and letting the truck idle a minute in the cool weather before backing out. "And I'm cooking you supper."

"That's right," Amy said in realization. "Grandpa's at Scott's and Lou and Nancy were looking at…" Amy held up her hand and as she listed off the different items she counted them on her fingers. "Flowers, dresses, make-up, hair dressers, caterers, photographers… ugh." She paused and narrowed her eyes at Ty who was chuckling. "I refuse to do any of that, it's all up to you."

Ty skillfully switched the conversation to supper and a disagreement ensued about what they were going to have. They were still at odds when they pulled up the drive of Heartland so they went straight for the kitchen and pulled out a few cookbooks. After disagreeing on every recipe, Amy sighed in exaggerated frustration and flipped the book closed on Ty's finger. Walking over to the refrigerator, she pulled out a casserole dish and handed it to him.

"Microwave's over there," She huffed, pointing to the counter.

"I love you," Ty said with a chuckle, leaning over the dish to press a kiss to her forehead. "Hash brown casserole it is."

Amy moved to the armchair in the corner of the kitchen and sat with her knees drawn up to her chin, watching Ty move easily around the kitchen. A smile formed involuntarily on her lips while she watched him casually reach for a couple of plates and forks. His motions around her house were so fluid that she'd have sworn he'd been doing them for years, not weeks. Ty looked over his shoulder at her from the cupboard and grinned quickly before his eyes returned to the glasses he was pulling out. He poured them each a cup of orange juice and after stacking a few loose pieces of paper, laid out the place settings, serving the now steaming casserole.

Amy showed no signs of moving from the chair so Ty approached her and after placing a hand on either of her knees, he bent forward and rested his chin on his hands.

"Your supper is ready," He said, moving his palm a fraction and pressing a kiss to her knee.

"Who're you going to ride?" Amy asked, standing and following Ty to the table.

"Dexter needs a workout. I think he can take it," Ty replied, sitting across from her.

Amy nodded thinking of the Appaloosa who had come to Heartland to be retrained after an early retirement that had resulted from his previous owner's death. The six year old was accepting their methods, but needed to rebuild some muscle after being in a pasture for several years.

&

"Ty what's wrong?" Amy asked, slowing Ceilie's pace for Dexter to pull beside them.

"Nothing, why?" Ty frowned, keeping his eyes on the reigns in his hands.

"You're an awful liar," Amy commented, looking back to the trail.

"Ugh," Ty groaned in frustration as the pair brought their horses to a halt at the top of Clairsdale ridge. "Amy, I have to go out of town for a while."

Amy looked up in shock. "Why?"

"Remember when I went home on Tuesday?"

Amy thought a moment. Ty had not heard a word from his parents since September, over a month and a half ago so on Tuesday – when she had been at school – he went to his house. The day had been busy and Amy had forgotten to ask him what had happened. Thinking back she remembered that a few of his personal effects had come back to Heartland after that trip.

"What happened?" She asked.

"The house was empty," Ty replied bluntly, looking out over the treetops and hills in front of them.

Amy's eyes widened but she remained silent.

"Everything was gone, the only thing left was my room, everything in there was completely untouched," He reached forward and played with Dexter's mane. "I called Brad's company and was _finally_ forwarded to him. He didn't say much but he sent me a plane ticket and said I had to get out there as soon as possible."

"Out where?" Amy asked quietly. Looking down she noticed that her hands had started shaking slightly.

"California," Ty sighed, turning Dexter towards Heartland.

"Cal–" Amy paused and swallowed. "When are you going?"

"Monday," Ty looked quickly at Amy just in time to catch her jaw drop open a fraction.

"Ty, its Friday now,"

"That's sort of the reason Jack and Lou are going to be out late tonight," Ty explained, dropping his eyes guiltily. "But I'm coming back no matter what."

"How soon?" Amy asked. _This is his home just as much as mine._ She rationalized to herself. _He won't stay away forever_.

"As long as it takes… whatever _it_ is," Ty answered, relief showing on his face as he realized that Amy wasn't upset.

Silence fell between them as Amy tried to imagine next week without Ty.

"Are you angry?" He broke her thoughts as the trail opened up at Heartland.

"Of course not," Amy reassured. "It's your family, you have to go."

Ty bit his lip, obviously holding back his response.

They led their horses to their stalls and after quick rubdowns and grooms, took the saddles to the tack room.

"Some family," He said in frustration as he dropped Dexter's saddle onto the rack. He turned away raking his hand through his hair and Amy knew he was livid.

"Ty," She sighed softly. Approaching him from behind, she wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her forehead between his shoulder blades and held that position until she felt his muscles relax. He turned in her arms and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose.

"Lets do the feeds and call it a night," Amy suggested.

"That's probably the best idea I've heard all day," Ty nodded, Amy noted that his eyes looked tired. "Were we going to change the oil again today?"

"I already picked one out, no smelling involved," Amy answered, dropping her hands and leading the way to the feed room.

"I'll trust you," Ty said, though by his tone Amy knew he was a bit suspicious.

"It's a _surprise_," Amy said placing emphasis on the last word.

"I trust you," Ty repeated firmly.

&

"Ty?" Amy asked, peeking her head through the ajar door. The room was quite dark, lit only by the light of the moon, which streamed in through the window. She laughed when she saw that he was already lying on his stomach in the middle of his bed.

"I know the routine," He said, his voice muffled slightly from his arm.

Amy left the light off and with a small smirk, approached him but rather than sit at his legs she crawled onto the bed and straddled his waist.

"Amy, w–" Ty started, twisting to face her but she cut him off by covering his lips with hers. Pulling back after a quick kiss, she held up a cobalt vial and kissed him again before pulling back and taking some of the oil in her palm, warming it between her fingers.

She started at his shoulder blades and immediately felt his body react to the earthy, spicy with a hint of floral scent that filled the air. Hearing a small groan escape Ty's lips, Amy smiled to herself. She had spent her lunch hour searching the internet for oil combinations specifically for men. She hadn't been concerned about how they would help his circulation or his muscles; she had looked for something that a man would enjoy. Something Ty would enjoy.

When he was instructed to do so, Ty rolled over. Amy still had one knee on either side of his waist as she massaged the oil into his toned stomach, chest and shoulders.

"What _is_ that?" Ty asked. Amy looked up to see his eyes were half closed, but focused on her face.

"Whew," Amy sighed, thinking. "There's Frankincense, Rosewood, Jasmine, Vetiver, Ylang Ylang, Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Clary Sage and Rosemary."

"What am I, your guinea pig?" Ty asked, his hands reaching up to rest lightly on Amy's hips.

"I did some research today," Amy explained, her fingers working on their own accord, her eyes now on Ty's. "This is just for you."

A smile spread across Ty's face and his hands reached out to stop her. He sat up and she slid into his lap, once she was there he kissed her deeply, his hands releasing hers so she could wrap her arms around his neck while his hands started massaging her shoulders with light pressure.

Amy closed her eyes at the feeling and after a moment, felt his hands travel to the front of her pajama shirt. The movement was slow and she knew he was watching her so she opened her eyes just enough so she could find his mouth and greedily take it. His hands slowly unbuttoned her shirt and before she had pulled back to breath from the kiss, she was sitting half naked in Ty's lap.

"Ty, I –" Amy started but he stopped her as his mouth found hers and his hands moved cautiously to her chest. Amy gasped against Ty's mouth when she felt his warm hands kneading with a gentle but firm pressure. Ty pulled back from her lips and with a small smile, bent his head and after cupping her breasts in his hands, he lowered his mouth to them, his lips first brushing, then kissing then pulling slightly on one nipple, then moving to do likewise to the other.

"Ty…" Amy hissed, her hands tangling themselves in his hair as his fingers trailed lightly along the taught skin of her stomach, stopping to knead very low on her back. His fingers splayed and he lifted her quickly, laying her back on the bed, kneeling between her knees. "Ty…" Amy repeated, reaching for him as his hands moved to the top of her pajama bottoms. She raised her hips slightly as an invitation.

Both her pajama bottoms and underwear were removed in a single motion and after Ty had dropped the pair to the floor he pressed his lips to her ankle. Amy moaned quietly as he moved to her calf, then her knee. He left an intense trail of tingling fire in his wake and Amy arched her back, a gasp escaping her as he continued north, pausing only briefly to press a kiss to the apex of her thighs before he moved to her stomach, chest, neck and finally her mouth. Amy relinquished her grip she'd had on the sheets and wrapped her arms around Ty. She realized quite suddenly that Ty had discarded his boxers at some point.

"Amy," He whispered her name directly in her ear, his lips brushing her earlobe. Amy's hands traveled up his shoulders until they were on either side of his face. She held him back slightly, only just seeing the desire in his dark green eyes with the dim moonlight. She knew the expression was a mirror image of her own. As soon as she released his face, his mouth sought her neck where he kissed and nipped down to her collarbone and back up to her jaw.

Amy slid her hands down to rest on his arms which caused her breath to catch in her chest as she realized just how well defined the muscles were, how much stronger Ty was than she, and how easily he could hurt her if he chose to.

"Amy," Ty's voice was suddenly quite serious. He pulled back from her neck, his eyes meeting hers and she knew that he could tell what she was thinking. Amy reached up and tried to kiss away the serious expression that had taken over his face and after responding to her deeply, Ty pulled back again. "Amy, are you sure?"

Amy knew he was completely serious, but she also knew that they were both considerably past the point of no return. She nodded quickly then recaptured Ty's lips. His tongue slipped expertly into her mouth, caressing her tongue with such passion that she moaned into his mouth. She felt him move so his hips were perfectly fitted between her thighs and again he pulled back from her lips.

"Amy you know I'd never hurt you, right?" He spoke with such uncertainty that Amy's eyes darted to his. She exhaled softly, directly in his face which caused his eyes to droop slightly only for a second before he was looking at her with intensity from his question.

"Of course," She whispered back, kissing his chin. Ty nodded slightly and Amy felt a light pressure at her entrance, which made her entire body shivered with pleasure.

"Amy, I don't want to hurt you, but this _is_ going to hurt," Ty mumbled against her shoulder. He pulled back and reached a hand up to brush the side of her face with the gentlest of caresses that she was sure he was afraid to break her. "I don't know how much… I swear I'll make it better. I'll make it –"

Amy assaulted his lips with hers to stop his ramble. When she pulled back Ty was searching her face, his breathing now slightly uneven. "I trust you. Ty, I love you."

Ty smiled and she felt the light pressure return. He kissed her deeper than before pulling back to catch is breath quickly and whisper, "I love you," back to her before, with a single quick and fluid motion, he entered her.

Amy gasped and pulling back from Ty's kiss, bit her lip. She clung to his back as she was suddenly thrown into a world of pain. She sucked in a sharp, shuddering breath as a tear leaked from the corner of her eye.

Ty had completely stilled all movement of his lower body and kissed away the tear, kissing back up its salty track, pulling back when he'd reached the source. "I love you," He whispered.

He stayed completely still within her, kissing her face as the pain settled. Ty seemed to know when she was ready because, without indication he started to slowly pull back. A new feeling rapidly replaced the painful throb and Amy instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. Her movement allowed him to penetrate further and as he pushed her back against the mattress a small-strangled sound came from her throat, her nails digging into his back.

He stilled immediately, misinterpreting her reaction.

"Ty…" She groaned, her eyes locking with his a moment before she closed them again in ecstasy. "Please…"

He required no further prompting as he drove deeply into her before pulling back and repeating the motion. Amy lifted her hips to meet his thrusts and quickly a rhythm was achieved.

Ty continued to kiss down her neck, but Amy was too busy focusing on maintaining her gasped breathing to respond much. He suddenly started withdrawing himself until only the very tip of his head was still within her.

A small cry came directly from Amy's throat and her hands applied pressure to his lower back. "Ty…" She pleaded but she didn't need to say more for, with sudden force, Ty slammed back into her and they regained their rhythm.

A spring deep within her began to tightly wind and Amy wondered if Ty could feel it too because as soon as it began to intensify, he sped up. The enhanced speed was all she needed to be pushed over the edge and the most unimaginably concentrated feeling of pleasure saturated every particle of her being. Following the feeling of a sudden spurt within her, the feeling of her climax was prolonged as Ty continued to thrust into her, riding out the waves of his peak.

As his motions slowed to a stop, Ty withdrew himself quickly, leaving Amy feeling empty but at the same time fulfilled. With his arms still holding Amy securely to himself, Ty rolled onto the bed, pulling her with him so they lay on their sides facing each other, the only sound breaking the perfect stillness of the room was their ragged breathing.

"You're trembling," Amy observed when she felt confident that her voice would finally work.

"I'll live," Ty whispered in an equally shaky voice. He pulled her close, holding her against the entirety of his warm body. Amy rested her head against his chest where she could hear his heart pounding so hard she thought it was trying to escape its cage.

"Amy?" Ty's whispered voice drew Amy's face up and she was met with a concerned expression. "Are you alright?"

Amy sighed, reaching up to press her lips against Ty's. "Perfect," She whispered when she pulled back.

A relieved smile covered Ty's face and he kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you more," Amy challenged, reaching a hand up to caress his jaw.

Ty reached back and pulled a quilt to cover them. Placing a hand at her back, he started tracing gentle lines over her back.

"What're you do–" Amy asked. She stopped suddenly as his motions became firmer, massaging her lower back.

"Mmm," Amy sighed. She reached up and kissed him, shivering slightly at the feeling of his tongue caressing hers and his hand working on her back. She pulled back, licking her lips and looked straight into his eyes.

"You –" Ty paused, kissing her lips quickly. "Are amazing," He finished, tightening his embrace on her. He kissed her forehead before she curled up in his arms and with her nose buried in the crook of his neck, Amy felt the most satisfying sleep envelop her.

* * *


	16. Chapter 16

Warning: This program contains scenes of nudity, sexuality and adult subject matter. Viewer discretion is **still** advised.

* * *

The water pattered down on the shower floor with the sound of raindrops, rolling off her skin, it swirled around her toes before reaching the drain. Amy stood with her face to the stream, her eyes closed as it washed over her, filling her ears and blocking out the sounds of the house.

She had woken in his arms. A thin sliver of light fell on his face so she could see that he was still asleep; far away, breathing deeply, his lips turned up ever so slightly. Reaching up, she had brushed her fingertips lightly along his jaw and blushed to herself when – in sleep – his face turned slightly to her touch. She'd grabbed her pajama shirt and donned it quickly before answering the call of a warm shower.

A small groan escaped her mouth as she shifted her weight. She'd woken with pain; dull and stiff, as she'd never felt before in _places_ she'd never felt before. Pulling her face from under the water she grinned to herself, her memory racing. The water cleared from her ears just in time to hear the shower door close behind her.

"Ty," Amy gasped as she felt his arms snake around her waist, drawing her against his dry and marginally colder body.

"Yeah?" He asked naturally, reaching past her and turning the hot water up slightly. The shower filled with steam.

"What're you –" She started.

"You disappeared," Ty said sheepishly, holding her tighter and Amy's mind flashed quickly back to his nightmare more than a month previous. Turning in his arms, Amy maneuvered them so Ty was under the stream of hot water and she had her back against the tiled wall. Reaching for her favourite guarana and ginger shampoo, she started slowly massaging it into a lather in Ty's thick dark hair.

"What exactly are you doing up so early?" He asked, his hands traveling to her hips.

"What time _is_ it?" Amy realized that she hadn't actually looked at the clock before leaving.

"Amy, it's just after 2am," Ty grinned at the shocked expression that took over Amy's face.

"Wow." Amy thought for a moment but decided that she didn't feel like she'd only slept for two hours. Forming Ty's hair into a crude mohawk, Amy clarified her thoughts. "I don't feel tired."

"Me neither," Ty answered, still smiling. He moved back under the water, closing his eyes as the bubbles ran over his face. Amy joined him and reaching up, ran her fingers though his hair, coaxing out the last of the suds.

Light fingers tickled up her backbone and Amy blinked up through the water to see that Ty wore what was now, to Amy, a familiar expression. With a sudden surge of adrenaline and lust, she reached up to press her lips to his, their tongues danced as Amy wrapped both her arms up and around his neck, pressing her body against his. He answered immediately by pushing her back against the cool tiles.

"Amy," Ty groaned, pulling back from her lips to reach up and detach her nails from his shoulder. He held her one hand captive against the wall in his own, while his other hand ventured further south. Amy gasped when his fingers – almost hesitantly – found what they'd sought. She saw Ty watching her anxiously as his fingers worked slowly over uncharted territory for only a second before she closed her eyes, her breath catching in her throat again as she shivered in pure ecstasy. She felt his lips on her jaw.

"Amy," Ty called, his voice very close to her. Biting her lower lip, she opened her eyes just before Ty crushed his lips against hers'. Amy gasped against Ty's mouth as a small surge of pleasure – barely comparable to the one she had previously experienced – washed over her, causing her legs to become instantly weak. Ty caught her, lifting her slightly and – without warning – drove the entire length of him into her.

"Ty," She hissed. It registered vaguely in her brain that rather than the pain she'd felt last time, only waves of pleasure now coursed though her.

Wrapping her legs around Ty's waist, Amy held tightly to his shoulders, seeking his mouth once again while he pushed deeply into her, forcing her legs apart wider to accommodate.

With both his hands now braced against the wall on either side of her head, Amy was left to cling to Ty, though she scarcely needed to as he thrust into her quickly, keeping her pinned to the tiles. Her urgency was mirrored in his movements and she moved her hips as much as she was able, moaning as her assent was marked by high points of pleasure. Leaving her mouth, Ty ran his lips down her neck, across her collarbone and over her shoulders.

A tingling trail of electricity followed Ty's lips and together with the building pleasure of their coupling and the water that was streaming around them caused Amy bit down on Ty's shoulder, tasting the salt of his sweat mingling with the remnants of shampoo as her climax began to consume her. The sting of her bite was apparently enough for Ty. She felt his lips brake contact with her neck as he gasped next to her ear and rode the waves of passion with her.

He stilled, allowing Amy to catch her breath. She realized that it was coming in quick gasps, the same pace as Ty's, though her own was interrupted by an occasional whimper. As his breathing resumed a regular rhythm, Ty withdrew and held Amy securely in his arms, the shower pounding on his back while she still struggled to regulate her breathing, her hands griping his upper arms tightly.

"Amy," He asked uncertainly after some full minutes. "Are you okay?"

"That – that was…" She paused, pulling back from his chest, struggling to clear her head, to find the words that were slipping away. She met his gaze and her attempts were suddenly in vain as her brain all but shut down under his warm green eyes. Reaching up, she threw herself into a passionate kiss that Ty responded to zealously. When she had to breathe again, Amy kept her hands clasped behind his neck so Ty was forced to bend his neck forward and their foreheads remained pressed together. "I don't know what I'm going to do when you're gone," Amy confessed, her voice sounding smaller than she'd intended.

"I swear I'll be back as soon as I can," Ty vowed, his voice dripping with conviction. One of his hands moved in circles over her back and Amy realized that a bar of soap was in his hand, trailing a soft film of soap over her skin. Keeping her mouth closed, she let him wash her. She did not take her hands or her eyes off him.

* * *

Here's just a quick little chapter so you know I'm not done writing this fic. I started my summer job and I have WAY less time to type than I thought. Things are starting to get a bit of a schedule now so maybe I'll be getting more time…. We'll have to wait and see.

Quick little thanks to "king40" and "i.hate.jake" for adding my story to their alert lists, also thanks to "griffindor-girl12" (glad you liked the oils bit, it wasn't really the orginal intention… but who could resist?!), "ffgirlmoonie", "Robin and Marian 4ever" (this is all from Amy's P.O.V… does that answer your question?), "Pixy Black", "Alf08" (You jinxed it!! Lol, 2 weeks… as if!!), "Madusa and The 'Wizard'" (I FINALLY updated again…. I'll try to be quicker next time!!) and "Kittygurl00-HorseMystique".

Keep your eyes open!

-MM


	17. Chapter 17

* * *

Heartland was empty.

The absence Amy felt was intensified by the fact that Ty had not left the place for two whole months except for times when she too was gone.

But it was getting to be too much.

She had driven Ty to the airport herself. She had stayed with him until the last possible second at security then waited in the terminal until she saw his plane disappear. She had driven back to Heartland and had thrown herself into her work, trying to pass the time, the hours, the days until he would be back.

That had been over a month ago.

He called every night. There were problems. Fist with his dad, then with his mom, then with his dad again. Amy worked very hard to sound as supportive as she could over the phone. Reassuring, optimistic, natural.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

"You look awful," Joni commented, coming over to rub circles on Amy's back.

The latter was doubled over an old barrel that served as a rarely used trash can behind the feed shed.

"This has to be the third time this week you've seen your breakfast again," The older girl tried to joke and sound sympathetic at the same time. "What did Ty say last night?"

"More of the same," Amy sighed, resting her forehead on the rim of the barrel to free her hands and unbutton the top two buttons of her work shirt. Though the morning held a mid November chill, she felt hot, clammy and basically ill. "His dad's still furious about the accident and his mom's worried for his safety," With another sigh and a low groan, Amy pushed herself away from the barrel.

"You're in withdrawal, girl," Joni joked again, gently pushing Amy towards the house. "You should skip school today, maybe call him and fill him in."

"I'll be fine," Amy protested, turning them in the direction of the feed room. "I guess its just waking up without him, I miss him too much in the mornings."

Joni raised an eyebrow.

"Well, all the time," Amy corrected quickly, pulling down a bottle of Clary Sage oil and adding a few drops to a handkerchief. "But it actually hurts in the morning."

"Does that help?" Joni asked, gesturing to the handkerchief as Amy breathed deep the herbal scent.

"A bit," Amy sighed, exhaling slowly.

"Here," Joni grabbed another bottle and held it out. "Marjoram, it helps with loneliness."

"That man has ruined me," Amy said sadly, adding the proffered oil.

"You look terrible honey," Nancy said sympathetically when Amy descended the stairs later that morning; showered, dressed and ready for school.

"I think I heard that somewhere already," Amy said with uncharacteristic sarcasm, grabbing a muffin she moved to the door.

"Are you sure you don't want to take the day off?" Nancy asked in her full worried-motherly tone. "Joni said you weren't doing so well outside this morning.

"I feel much better now," Amy said honestly, continuing to the door. "I think the shower fixed me."

"Okay…" Nancy wasn't convinced, but she didn't argue further, she only followed Amy onto the porch. "Just call if you need someone to pick you up, I'll come out as fast as I can."

"Sounds tempting, I do have a math test before lunch… but I'm fine, really," Amy smiled warmly before shouldering her bag and heading in the direction of her bus stop.

She had seen her reflection after her shower. Even though the hot water had taken away the unease she'd felt outside, it could not erase the purple bruises forming under her eyes from lack of sleep. She was still pale from her episode that morning, but the cold air would quickly rectify that.

_If only Ty would hurry up_. She thought warily as she climbed onto the bus and took her seat with Soraya.

"You look like –"

"Like a wreck?" Amy finished for her friend and she began picking at her muffin.

"I was going to say a _train_ wreck, but same thing. He's not coming home yet?" Soraya asked carefully.

"He promised he'd be back before Monday," Amy answered, Soraya's obvious relief reflected in her own tone.

"Is Jack still acting like nothing's happening?" Her friend continued to gently pry.

"He knows, but he's trying to act normal," Amy replied, pausing to chew the sweet carrot muffin. "But I think he's going to have a few choice words for Ty when he gets back."

"I think we all will," Soraya laughed before putting an arm around Amy's shoulder with a theatrically sad sigh.

"I know, I know! This is completely ridiculous," Amy leaned into her friend, closing her tired eyes.

"Young love," Soraya sighed dramatically, lifting Amy's left hand and examining the ring. "Just think, a year from now you two will be stuck together 'til death do you part, a Ty junior on the way, your lives starting… while I'm stuck sitting in a boring three hour lecture learning about some dead guy's theory which I'll promptly forget about as soon as the exam is over."

Amy's eyes shot open but she kept her mouth closed as Soraya talked.

"Our lives sure are going different ways," Her friend continued, not noticing the sudden change in Amy.

"Soraya would you mind coming shopping with me at lunch?" Amy asked as the pair walked to their lockers. She'd half-heartedly listened to her friend's continuous chatter – comparing their futures – while her need for Ty intensified with every mile that brought them closer to the school so she felt sick again. A very different sick from earlier that morning.

"Sure. Are you finally going to get another pair of shoes?" Soraya teased, toeing Amy's dusty old school runners.

"Something like that," Amy said offhandedly, stowing her jacket in her locker.

"I'll meet you back here," Soraya confirmed eyeing her friend as Amy wandered off in the direction of her first class.

Rather than pulling into the room five minutes early, Amy continued down the hall to the girl's washroom, which was blissfully vacant. Turning her back to the door, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed.

"Hello?" His voice asked in her ear.

"Ty?" Amy's voice sounded smaller than she wanted it to, but she couldn't help it. A tear slid down her cheek.

"Amy," Ty sighed. She could tell by his tone that he had been thinking of her and that he had wanted to talk to her. "Are you alright?" He hadn't missed her tone either. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"I am," Amy answered, sitting on the counter between two sinks.

"Is everything ok? What's wrong?" Ty asked, worry evident in his voice.

"I miss you," Amy replied. She hadn't actually said that to him yet. She'd tried to keep her needs from interfering with his family issues, but she couldn't wait any longer. Not anymore. "When are you coming home?" Another tear escaped her eye.

"I was going to call you later today," Ty answered quickly. He knew something was wrong on Amy's end. _He's so perceptive_. "I bought a ticket today, I'll be back tomorrow afternoon."

"What about your mom?" Amy asked, trying to mask her relief.

"She said its okay. Brad's not talking to me," His voice hardened.

"Ty –" Amy started, her voice sympathetic.

"No Amy, I'm coming back," Ty said firmly. "We're not going anywhere but backwards here…" He paused. "I miss you."

Amy's breath caught painfully in her throat as she heard the sadness in Ty's voice. "Ty I th–" Amy started but the sound of a bell – a warning that there was only two minutes before she was late for class – cut her off.

"You're going to be late," Ty's reminder was gentle. "I'll talk to you later."

"I love you," Amy whispered.

"I love you more," Ty replied.

"Prove it," Amy challenged.

"I will the second I see you," Amy could hear the grin in Ty's voice. "Bye."

"Bye," She said softly, listening to Ty hang up before flipping her phone closed.

"Tell me you're joking!" Soraya groaned. A light wooden door separated her from Amy as she waited outside the convenience store bathroom.

"I wish I was," Amy said, emerging from the room, her head hanging as she kept her eyes trained on the yellow industrial linoleum.

"How could –" Soraya started.

"I didn't even think of –" Amy cut her off.

"You should have been paying more attention in health class!" Soraya finished her thought in exasperation.

Amy dropped her head to her hands, shaking her head. Her eyes stayed dry. Now was not a time for tears.

"What did it say?" Soraya asked gently.

"There's still another half-a-minute," Amy answered, looking up as her friend wrapped her arms around her. Amy rested her head on Soraya's shoulder and sighed.

"Amy, you're my best friend. I'm here for you no matter what that thing says," Soraya reassured, taking Amy's hand and leading her back into the bathroom.

"Thanks," Amy nodded. Swallowing hard she picked up the slender indicator. Her eyes fell on the small cross and she sank down onto the toilet lid. "Oh no," She groaned, dropping the test and hanging her head again.

* * *

OK! so I'm slow. yeah. I know. BUT I have the next few chapters done so I'll post this one, let you all fill up the review pages and then when I get back to the internet on Tuesday night, I'll post another one!

thanks to 'MoriaRownlands222', 'xxkristeen' and 'Alf08' for the encouragement

* * *


	18. Chapter 18

* * *

"What are you going to tell him?" Soraya asked.

They'd both skipped their afternoon classes and were hiding out in a back corner of the school library, a book in either girls' hands to keep the librarian's suspicions at bay.

"You say that like I have a choice," Amy said dully.

"_When_ are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know," Amy sighed, drawing her legs up and resting her chin on her knees.

"Lighten up Aims," Soraya urged. "Its not _all_ bad."

"Really?" Amy was at a loss. "Remind me again what part of this _isn't_ bad?" Amy demanded, her tone clearly saying that nothing could possibly make the situation worse.

"It's not all your fault," Soraya reminded.

"It's _not_ Ty's fault."

"Well you didn't exactly do this on your own," Soraya corrected with a smirk.

"Ugh," Amy admitted defeat in winning Soraya onto her side. "He's too young to have to worry about this," She groaned, dropping her book to the floor and raking her fingers through her hair.

"Amy –"

"I just need to think about this," Amy cut her friend off. It wasn't often that she would silence her friend, but she had too many things running through her mind that needed to be sorted before she could listen to advice.

"Well you have all day tomorrow to _think_," Soraya said trying to sound optimistic.

"T.G.I.F," Amy frowned, trying hard not to imagine attempting to hide this secret from her family.

"Come on," Soraya said, picking up Amy's book and stowing it back on the shelf with her own. Standing, she held out her hand and helped the other up. "Matt's taking me to a movie, we'll give you a ride home."

"No. Matt's smart, he'll know something's wrong," Amy sighed, rubbing her temples. She was getting a headache. "Don't tell him," She pleaded, following Soraya outside and towards the buses. "Ty has to be the first to know… well, second."

"Amy, you're more of a drama queen than I am," Soraya mocked, pushing Amy's shoulder gently. "It's going to be ok."

"I don't see how, but I hope you're right." Amy mumbled into Soraya's shoulder as she was pulled into another embrace.

"Call me if you need _anything_," Soraya pressed, pulling back for Amy to board the bus. "I'll be worried if I don't hear from you by Sunday."

"Thanks," Amy nodded, the word holding a surprising amount of force and meaning.

Hugging her backpack and drawing her knees to her chest, Amy watched Soraya and Matt clasp hands when they joined together, walking in the direction of Matt's old Saturn. She watched their casual affection with envy. A mantra formed in her mind as the bus pulled away from the school.

_Please don't hate me_. _Please don't hate me_. _Please don't hate me_…

&

Avoiding her family was almost easier than Amy had imagined.

Throwing herself into Heartland, Amy worked with as many horses as she could fit into her timeslot after school. She timed what she accurately predicted to be a difficult join-up with a new arrival so she would miss supper with Lou and their Grandpa.

Cricket, a broad quarter horse had experienced an ordeal with his rider, the end result ended his young owner's riding career. After being passed from owner to owner and stable to stable, he finally ended up at Heartland. The constant changing and mishandling, had given Cricket a certain distrust for humans and a week previous, Amy had eagerly accepted the challenge. Anything to keep her mind off Ty.

Earning the animal's favour had proven a more time consuming task than Amy had originally anticipated, and she did not finally successfully join-up until just after the sun had disappeared behind the western horizon.

Leading Cricket back to his stall, Amy found Lou waiting at the barn door.

"What's up Lou?" She asked, trying to sound natural.

"Just watching. We saved you a plate," Lou answered, offering her hand palm up to Cricket who stretched his neck out cautiously.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to come out here to tell me that," Amy tried to sound sincere as she walked past her sister and into Cricket's stall.

"I just wanted to catch up with you," Lou _did_ sound sincere. "I feel like I never get to talk with you anymore."

"We're both busy I guess," Amy reasoned logically, turning her back to her sister as she entered the stall with Cricket. "You're working on the wedding, I'm working on graduating."

"I was really hoping you'd be able to be more involved in the wedding," Lou sounded genuinely disappointed, prompting Amy to look up from the body brush she was reaching for to throw her sister a sympathetic look. "Do you want to come with me tomorrow to run errands? I have to check with some people about a tent and we could catch lunch in town," Lou's mood seemed instantly brightened at the idea.

"I guess it couldn't hurt," Amy said slowly. "But Ty's going to be back tomorrow, I really want to be here when he gets back."

"He called earlier and told me," Lou nodded then frowned. "I talked to Nancy, she said you've been having a rough time lately, are you ok?"

_Just get right to the point Lou_. Amy thought with an amused smile. "I'm fine, I just really miss him."

"Maybe a break is exactly what you need," Lou said, again excited for the impending excursion. "I'll go make reservations at that Italian place you like."

Amy watched her sister trot off towards the house before turning back to Cricket with a sad smile.

"She's going to be so mad at me this time tomorrow," She whispered. The horse flicked an ear back then gently nudged the brush in Amy's hand with his nose. "Lets hope she's the only one who's mad at me," She added, fear rising in the form of a lump in her throat as she put her arms around Cricket's warm, strong neck.

&

_Please don't hate me_._ Please don't hate me_._ Please don't hate me_…

Amy repeated the chant over and over again in her head while she listened to her sister's ramblings about flowers, dresses and make-up as she followed her around town the next day.

Amy tried her best to pay attention to Lou, even succeeding from time-to-time, but as the time drew nearer to Ty's arrival, she found herself dwelling on the possible scenarios that had plagued her restless sleep the night before. Each scene that had played behind her sleeping eyes ended with her watching Ty's back as he left.

Lou had apparently decided to play the compassionate card and was attributing Amy's occasional lapses of attentiveness to her anxiousness to see Ty again. She was part right.

"He sure has been gone for a while," Lou remarked over lunch, pausing with her coffee cup halfway to her mouth.

"Too long," Amy nodded.

"Why did they leave again?" Lou asked. "I didn't really get the whole story from Ty."

"Brad was offered some high paying corporate job out west," Amy answered simply. "A lot of money was thrown his way and he thought that Ty would forgive him if he left the house for him."

"That's a pretty big gift," Lou said, her eyebrows climbing.

"Not if you've seen the house," Amy said honestly. "It's not much."

Lou fell silent, looking thoughtfully into her drink. Amy's mind wandered back to Ty and his flight that would be taking off any minute. _He has no idea_. She thought to herself. _He's probably just thinking about coming back to work or maybe about the last weekend he was here_…

&

Amy stood leaning over the rail to Pegasus's paddock. Jack had gone to the airport to collect Ty – she suspected this would be when his 'choice words' would be communicated, when she wasn't around to witness – so she had nothing to do but wait. She stood with here eyes closed, taking in the warmth of the sun and listening to the soft, cool breeze playing across the autumn darkened leaves. So focused on the sounds of the natural world around her, Amy missed the sound of footsteps on the gravel driveway until they were directly behind her.

Ty wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, clasping his hands over her stomach and resting his chin on her shoulder. He turned his head and pressed a kiss to her cheek before looking out at the two small trees in the paddock.

"I've missed you," He said simply.

Amy kept her eyes closed, trying to memorize the warmth she felt emanating from his body to her own, to hold tightly to the feel of his body against her, she felt certain she would soon lose it. A tear fell from her eye.

"Amy what's wrong?" Ty asked when the second tear fell, this one making contact with his cheek, which was against hers. When she didn't answer, he dropped his arms and – gently holding her arms – turned her to face him. "Amy, it's ok. I'm back now and I'm not leaving again."

Amy gasped for air as her throat constricted around the lump that had formed in it – her eyes trained on the ground – wishing it were the truth. Wishing she could tell him how she hoped it was true.

"Aims," He whispered, reaching up to brush away her tears. She pulled back, looking up to meet his eyes. They were confused and worried but above all warm and loving. Another tear fell from her eye and she reached up herself to wipe it away. _One word_. _Only one word and he won't be confused anymore_.

"Amy, what's the matter?" He reached forward to hold her but against her yearning to feel his embrace, she held up her hand, stopping his advance.

"I have to say something," She said, her voice dying so she was forced to drop it to a whisper. "You don't have to worry about anything – this isn't your problem, it's mine – I don't want you to worry…" She paused, trying to steady her voice with a slow breath. Ty's eyes were boring into hers', trying to understand what she wasn't saying. She refused to look away. "Please know that I – that I'm sor… sorry," She struggled to get to the point. _Please don't hate me_. _Please don't hate me_._ Please don't hate me_…

"Amy what's wrong?" He demanded, grasping her shoulders and ducking his head so he was at her eye level. "Please tell me, maybe I can hel–"

"Ty, I'm pregnant," Amy whispered.

* * *

I love coming home to find 20 messages in my inbox ALL from :D!! Thanks to 'spazzysassyangel', 'XxMoonRiderxX' (you may be right!!), 'SugarBunnies16' (interesting indeed!), 'Madusa and The 'Wizard'' (I didn't mean to leave you all for so long! I hope this quick update makes up for that!!), 'Penny' (yeah, probably not a good thing), 'Alf08' (very perceptive!! lol, I got the email alerts… Finally!!). Also thanks to 'Shianna Gonna Shine' for the adds :D

I'll be posting another in a couple of days!!

-MM


	19. Chapter 19

* * *

Amy didn't move and she didn't look away. She didn't even dare blink while she watched Ty.

He had completely frozen. His expression was still worried and his face was still just a foot from her own, his hands on her shoulders.

_Please don't hate me_. _Please don't hate me_. _Please don't hate me_.

"Ty?" She asked cautiously after a few moments.

He dropped his hands and pulled back. He turned around and walked a couple of steps away, pausing in front of the paddock gate he reached up and raked a hand through his hair, the other hand on his hip.

_Crap_.

Fresh tears spilled down Amy's cheeks. "Its ok, don't worry about it," She muttered, her voice thick with a million emotions. "I didn't think you'd be…" She paused trying to breathe. Ty turned back and approached her again. "Its not your prob–"

Ty's arms reached around her, pulling Amy against his chest. "I'm so sorry," He murmured into her hair.

"Don't be," Amy whispered, trying not to fall into his arms. "This is all my fault, its my problem, you don't have to worry about any–"

"Amy what are you talking about?" Ty asked, tilting her head up with a finger under her chin.

"Aren't –" Amy paused, searching Ty's now sad eyes. "Aren't you angry with me?"

"What do I have to be angry about?" He asked, confusion leaking back into his voice.

"I thought you'd be –"

"Are you sure?" He cut her off, his hand drifting lightly to her stomach.

"The test was positive," Amy breathed, looking away from his eyes in shame.

"You mean I'm –" He broke off and Amy looked up at the sound of his voice cracking slightly. "I'm going to be a dad?"

Amy's breath caught in her throat. "You're not angry?"

A silly grin spread across Ty's face and his hand left her stomach to grasp her left hand. He brought it up and kissed the knuckle of her second finger. "Do you think I gave you this for nothing?" He asked, eyes flickering momentarily to her ring.

"Oh," Amy groaned, burying her face in his chest.

"What's wrong?" Ty asked in alarm, placing cautious hands on her.

"I'm an idiot," Amy answered, suddenly appreciating Ty's arms around her more than she ever had before.

Her feet left the ground and it took Amy a moment to realize that Ty had lifted her and spun with her in his arms. "A dad…" She heard Ty murmur. He put her back on her feet and looked down at her, his hands on her shoulders again, a worried expression back on his face. "Are you okay with this?"

Amy's stunned expression from his enthusiasm became even more surprised as she considered the question. She hadn't even though about how she felt, she'd only worried about Ty's reaction.

"… _a Ty junior on the way, your lives starting…"_

_A small version of Ty and me._

Fresh tears sprang to Amy's eyes and Ty's expression immediately became pained.

"No!" Amy said quickly, the tears spilling over. She reached up and hastily brushed them away. "These are good," She laughed, gesturing to the tears on her hands. Still laughing she threw her arms around Ty's neck and buried her face where his neck and shoulder met. Again Amy was off her feet, Ty's deep laugh in her ear. Ty put her down, kissed her quickly and held her body flush with his in a tight embrace.

_Crap_.

Amy froze. Ty sensed the change then – in what was easily becoming a signature gesture of his – held her shoulders and looked into her face.

"What–"

"We still have to tell Grandpa and Lou," Amy cut him off.

Ty's expression fell a fraction. They stared at each other, frozen for almost a full minute.

"Well," Ty said, breaking the silence. "It's not really something that can be avoided… they're bound to notice eventually."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Amy's voice was quite serious. "I've been sick for the last few weeks and they both thought it was because of you."

"Well technically…" Ty trailed off with a smirk. "But yeah, Jack told me," Disbelief painted his tone.

"I heard he wasn't too impressed with you," Amy tried not to let on to how unrealistically upset she though her grandpa had been.

"I don't imagine this news is going to get him back on my side," Ty sighed, wincing infinitesimally. "I think I should tell him," He added firmly. "You can tell Lou, but I need to tell Jack by myself."

Amy cocked her head. "Was he really that hard on you before?"

"He's very protective of you and Lou," Ty answered matter-of-factly.

Amy thought a moment and after deciding that her grandpa couldn't do anything too horrible she agreed. "Fine, its not like he can change this."

"This…" Ty echoed quietly. Turning to look towards the paddock, Ty placed an arm around Amy's shoulders and she covered his hand with her own as he placed it over her stomach.

_Just rip the Band-Aid off_.

Ty's idea had seemed so simple when they stood outside. Now, sitting next to Lou in the living room, suddenly Amy wished she could hide behind Ty.

_But I can't, he's in the kitchen. Telling Grandpa. Who would I rather tell?_

That was an easy one. She would much rather tell her sister – as unpredictable as her reactions tended to be – than tell her Grandpa who she knew would not be impressed with the news, to say the least.

"What's going on Amy?" Lou demanded. Her voice held suspicion. Amy knew she noticed Ty cornering Jack in the kitchen.

_Please don't hate me_. _Please don't hate me_._ Please don't hate me_.

"Lou promise you won't yell at me." Amy pleaded, looking apologetically up at her older sister.

"I promise…" Lou said slowly. "Is it really that bad?"

Amy bit her lip and crossed her fingers in her lap. Turning slightly towards her sister she sucked in a deep breath and physically braced herself. "Lou, I'm pregnant."

Lou's eyes grew. "Ty…?"

Amy nodded once, searching her sister's chocked eyes.

"Oh Amy," Lou sighed. Much to Amy's surprise she was pulled into her sister's arms. "Have you two talked about what you're going to do?"

"What we're – hang on," Amy pulled back. "Aren't you suppose to be mad at me? Yelling, having a fit…?"

Lou shook her head, her expression sad. "I've decided to stop trying to replace mom. You need a sister so I'm just going to be her."

Amy nodded slowly.

"So have you two talked about –" Lou started but didn't finish her sentence.

"Not really…" Amy thought a moment. "But it's me and Ty, sort of a no-brainer."

"Amy, you two are so young," Lou reminded, her tone gentle. Amy had to admit, Lou was taking the news _much_ better than she'd hoped.

"We –" Amy didn't get to finish her though as Jack walked into the living room, alone.

"Amy, I can't even begin to…" His jaw clenched and he inhaled then exhaled slowly. "Amy, I'm very disappointed in you," Jack said slowly. He didn't need to voice his opinion, the anger radiating off him was almost tangible.

"Where's Ty?" Amy asked, rising slowly to her feet, looking past her grandpa into the empty kitchen.

"I told him he can't stay here," Jack said simply, sitting in his armchair. "He left."

"Wh– No!" Amy shouted. She was already wrenching the door open as the sound of Ty's truck starting reached them. Headlights washed over the porch as Amy ran out into the driveway, directly into the truck's path.

* * *

What a better Birthday present than another chapter?! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Alf08!!

'Horsesareamazing' …. Who else has Amy been sleeping with? Lol. 'SugarBunnies16' was this soon enough? 'Madusa and The 'Wizard'' was this better? Lol, can't stay away from the cliffhangers!! 'Alf08' yeah…. Not enough suspense in yours! 'spazzysassyangel', thanks for the review! I aim to please!!

-MM


	20. Chapter 20

* * *

Ty slammed on the breaks, causing the wheels to lock and slide forward only a foot before stopping.

But Amy was already moving towards the passenger side before the vehicle became motionless.

"Amy what are you doing? Go back to the house," Ty commanded as she climbed onto the truck bench.

"You. Cannot. Leave. Me." Amy said firmly, closing the door and pulling the seat belt over herself before fastening it.

"Your grandpa doesn't want us together an–"

"I don't care what he wants!" Amy said, her voice rising slightly as the adrenaline that had moved her in front of the moving vehicle coursed through her. "I'm going to be a mother, you're going to be a father and there's nothing, _nothing_ he can do about that."

"Aren't you upset?" Ty asked angrily, his voice showing the strain of his conversation with Jack. "I ruined your life."

Amy paused, looking back to the house to see her grandpa watching them from the kitchen window and Lou hovering anxiously on the porch. "The only way you could ruin my life is by leaving it," She explained softly, unbuckling and sliding over to sit beside him.

Putting the truck into gear then an arm around Amy's shoulder, Ty drove to the road, ignoring Lou as she walked out to the drive to stand where the truck had idled for a moment.

As they drove in silence, the sun finally disappeared behind the horizon and the road grew steadily darker. Ty shifted gears and put his hand on Amy's knee. She looked down at the simply casual gesture and followed his arm up to his face. She was surprised to see the range of emotions playing across his features; from pain to loss and grief to joy. She reached up to trace his jaw and as he turned to look briefly at her, for the first time in her life, Amy found pure and absolute fury in Ty's dark green eyes.

"What did he say to you?" She whispered.

Ty's jaw hardened further a moment before he relaxed it and raised his hand to rub his eyes quickly before returning his hand to her knee and his eyes to the road. "I told him…" Ty sighed and Amy knew he was trying to keep his own emotions out of the explanation. "I told him that I found out why you were sick when I away. I told him that you are pregnant and he just… I don't know," He sighed again. "At first I thought he didn't hear me, he just kept looking at me. He asked 'your's?', I nodded… and he just lost it."

Amy covered Ty's hand with her own and squeezed it lightly.

"He wouldn't even look at me Aims," Ty's voice dropped to a whisper and it pained Amy to hear him speak in such a way. She knew he held a great deal of respect for her grandfather and she knew it would hurt him losing face with Jack.

"He just had a go at me, I've never heard him talk like that before. He actually said 'I hope you're happy, you've ruined her life.'" Ty looked quickly down at Amy to gauge her reaction.

"No!" She gasped.

"He did," Ty said sadly, turning into a gas station and parking. He turned to Amy, putting an arm over the back of the seat and taking her hand with his other hand. "Then he just said 'I think you'd better leave. I don't want you with my granddaughter anymore.' And that's it."

"I don't care where you're going, I'm coming too," Amy said stubbornly.

Ty sighed again, resting his head in his hand with his elbow still on the back of the seat.

Amy waited, playing with Ty's hand in her own, knowing already that they both knew the only option they had.

"I just wish he could be as happy for us as we are," Ty sighed after many minutes of silence broken only by the sounds of passing vehicles.

"He will be," Amy said confidently. "It's just going to take a while, he's only in shock."

"I wish I had your confidence," Ty's voice was sad.

Amy looked down at their hands as he reached his index finger to brush lightly over her stomach. "I wish we waited until after supper," Amy said after her stomach growled audibly.

"There's a restaurant in there," Ty nodded his head to the small gas station. "We can go back after." He spoke slowly, reflecting his reluctance.

Amy leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her fiancée. "What's the worst thing that can happen?" She asked, feeling more confident than she ever had.

"Food poisoning?" Ty said after a moment of thought.

Amy was relieved he was relaxed enough to make a joke.

* * *

OK! So. I haven't died and wow do I ever have a story for you!

So as some here know I was in University for Business Administration.

I SAID WAS!?!?!?

(sorry, too much coffee)

So here's the story:

I left for school on the second of September, leaving my boyfriend (of 2 months at the time) at home. *insert knife into heart*. I assumed I would be able to get more writing done there since I had been spending every not working minute during the summer with him. But my god was I wrong. When I wasn't working or at school, I was on the phone or on MSN with him. (for privacy matters I'll call him GH).

SO! In realizing that school really was boring and it wasn't the right program for me (I want to open a small café… and a BBA will make you semi-ready to be a CEO… wrong level!!!) I decided that I would find a better program. LO! There is one in Ottawa!! But why would I start a month late?? So a month and a half after I'd left for school…. I was home. I got a bus ticket and moved back home and am now spending every not working minute with GH.

WAIT! There's more!!!

I'm ALSO working with a horse!!!! (this is exciting stuff considering what this fanfic is about!)

So my mum and I have been visiting a lady who lives about 10 minutes from here. She's a bit older and has breathing problems. She also has 4 horses. (well 4 living there, one [Buck] belongs to someone else, and one [Zaira] my mum is going to own in the near future)

There's Buck the 12-or-so-year-old Buckskin, he's a complete arse and bully, he pushes the others around and I don't like him anymore.

There's Zaira the 3 year old Arabian, she's mum's favourite because mum likes grey and she likes Arabians and Zaira's both so… yeah.

There's Cos(mo) (Cosmo) he's about 12 or 13 and I think he's ring sour. (but really good to work with, he listens really well! He's a Quarter Horse.

And finally, Gunner, the pure Tennessee Walking Horse. He's really jumpy and gets pushed around by Buck and he LIKES ME!!!! He's scared of people but for some off reason, he likes me!

So I've been going out there almost every morning to visit with the horses, feed them, water them and build up some friendship with Gunner. I would like to work with him and eventually ride him (cause he's a walker :D)

And that's the reasons I haven't been updating. So here's a small one, and I hope to type more even though this fic is actually coming to a close!

Did I mention GH likes Cypress oil? … :D

ALSO!!!!

Thanks to all those who added this fic to their favourites, and those who added ME to their favourites!!

Equestrian Star: "UPDATE SOON!! its taken u 3years to write 20chapters! :( "…. Teeheehee… sorry :$

SugarBunnies16: Thanks! :)

Pixy Black: was my reason good enough??

Madusa and The 'Wizard': I'm going to guess that was a bit too long :P

Dove: I'm having loads of luck with my 'friend' thanks! :D

Kris: OMG! I'm SO Sorry I'm SO SLOW at this! Please forgive me!!!

Alexis St. Claire: Better?

Kris: (again :P) SORRRRRRYYYYYY!!!!

SamandJake: Yes, I'm slow.

Kris: (again) wow, lol. I'm sorry :(

Andy-Ander: lol, thx, I'm not as good at the msn slang as you :P

Wheeeeeeew.

And for good measure….

SORRY!!

-MM


	21. FFFFUUUUUUUUU I mean: Chapter 21

Words can't begin to cover how AWFUL I FEEL about not posting sooner. Next chapter (I won't even bother promising it's soon to come because knowing me it'll take 3 years) should be the LAST ONE. Won't be overly important, just kinda wraps things up... but it will be the last one (FINALLY!)

Sorry!

* * *

Chapter 21

Amy's optimism faded as she and Ty ordered some of the greasy fare offered by the small restaurant. Amy picked at her burger, shredding the white bun into small crumbs. She noticed that Ty wasn't paying much attention to his food either.

"I should be taking better care of you," Ty mumbled suddenly, pushing aside his plate and leaning against the table.

"You treat me just fine," Amy contradicted, a little shocked and confused by his sudden statement.

Ty shook his head. "Look at this," He gestured to Amy's plate. "I'm feeding you the worst possible meal," He heaved a heavy sigh which slumped his shoulders. "I'm not sure I know what to do."

Amy pushed her own plate aside and reached for Ty's hands. He took hers' willingly.

"You're doing just fine," Amy reassured. "I think one of the most important things is to keep me happy and you do that without even trying."

Ty looked down at their joined hands and kissed the backs of both of hers' before looking back up to meet Amy's eyes.

Without another word they both stood and while Amy was putting her arms through the sleeves of the sweater Ty had given her, he left a bill on the table.

"Thank god Amy," Lou breathed, embracing here sister as soon as she had gotten out of the truck.

"I'm ok Lou," Amy hugged her sister back. It felt really good to have Lou on her side.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Lou asked, brushing her fingertips lightly over Amy's forehead before pulling her into another embrace.

"How's Grandpa?" Amy asked, ignoring Lou's question.

"I think he knew you'd be back," Lou answered leading the two to the house. "He's been waiting in the living room."

"Of course I'd come back," Amy said, kicking her shoes off in the kitchen. "Heartland is my life."

"Don't worry, we'll get through this," Ty whispered, placing his hand on Amy's shoulder.

"You certainly will," Lou said in a surprisingly determined voice. She held Amy's hand and led the two into the living room.

Jack was reading the newspaper. His eyes rose from the pages when Amy entered and they narrowed and the paper was set down when he saw Ty.

"I thought I told you to stay away," His voice was as dark as his expression.

"Jack you don't – " Ty began calmly.

"You get away from my granddaughter," Jack's voice held a menacing note Amy had never before heard.

"Grandpa please jus–" Amy started.

"I want you out of my house," Jack's voice threatened as he rose from his chair in a slow, deadly motion. "And don't you ever think of coming back."

"Listen Jack," Ty tried again but he recoiled when Jack's voice rose louder still.

"No you listen!" He shouted.

"No grandpa, you listen," Lou's voice was just as strong as her grandfather's but twice as vicious. "Don't you dare," Her volume lowered as acid was injected into her tone. She dropped Amy's hand and moved to put herself in the middle of the fight. "Don't you dare make Amy go through what mom had to."

Jack's eyes remained furious for only a moment longer before it faltered.

"Go to bed Amy," Lou instructed without turning from their grandpa. Her voice was no longer angry but her expression was still livid.

Amy was rooted to where she stood and didn't move until Ty tugged her along to the stairs. They went up to Amy's room.

As soon as they were out of the living room Amy let out a breath that she seemed to have been holding the whole time.

"That was unexpected," She said, turning to a pile of Ty's clean clothes she'd washed when he was away. _Has he only been back for a few hours? It feels like days already_. She pulled his pajama pants from the heap and set them on this lap where he sat on her bed.

Amy ran the encounter through her head while she changed into the old shirt of Ty's she's taken to wearing to bed. When she turned back to the bed Ty was staring at the pants in his lap, his eyes unfocused.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked, kneeling in front of Ty, looking up at him.

"I would have done exactly what Tim did," He murmured.

"Don't be silly Ty, it's not the same thing and you know it," Amy shook her head, taking one of his hands in both of her own.

"Near enough. I would have left you when you needed me the most," Ty's voice was full of self-revulsion. He lifted his eyes to meet Amy's.

"You might have driven around for the night, but you would have come back," Amy's voice was confident. She knew that much about him, no one would make Ty do something he didn't want to.

He reached out and gently took Amy's face between his hands. "You have so much faith in me," His voice was awed. "More than I deserve…" He slid onto the floor beside Amy. "I will earn that," He promised. "I won't ever leave you again."

Amy nodded, knowing that was all she would ask for. The rest they could deal with together.


End file.
